Manchester City 2 Napoli 0: Pep Guardiola’s side begin their Champions League campaign with a routine win | OneFootball

Manchester City 2 (Erling Haaland 56′, Jeremy Doku 65′)

Napoli 0

Manchester City have begun their UEFA Champions League campaign with a routine 2-nil win over Napoli. Goals from Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku were enough for City to see off Antonio Conte’s side. The red card for Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the 20th minute changed the game. From that point onwards it was up to City to win the game. They did that with dominant performance to begin their Champions League campaign in the right fashion.

Ahead of kickoff, Pep Guardiola named an unchanged starting eleven. The team that cruised past Manchester United was tasked with beginning Manchester City’s Champions League campaign on the right foot. Kevin De Bruyne started for Napoli. Seeing him in a visiting lineup playing against City was a striking sight. It didn’t look right, but that is the way it is.

First half

Manchester City began the game looking comfortable in possession. Napoli were defending deep but were also trying to press City high when the opportunity presented itself. The game’s first shot came from Ruben Dias in the game’s opening five minutes. But the Portuguese centre-back’s shot from 25 yards out was scuffed harmlessly wide.

Tijjani Reijnders would have the first shot on target in the 9th minute. The Dutch international fired in a powerful shot from just outside the left-hand side of the Napoli area. Reijnders’ shot was tipped over the bar for a City corner by Napoli keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

Gianluigi Donnarumma would make his first save of the game in the 17th minute. The Manchester City keeper reacted quickly to keep out a Sam Beukema header from a Napoli corner. Donnarumma made a smart save low down to his right to prevent Napoli from taking the lead.

Napoli are reduced to ten men in the 20th minute.

Phil Foden would play through Erling Haaland in the 18th minute. A poor Napoli headed clearance fell to Phil Foden. Foden played in Haaland through the centre of the Napoli defence. The Norwegian international was clean through on goal and was brought down by a desperate sliding tackle by Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo. The referee initially waved away Manchester City’s protests for a foul on Haaland. But VAR intervened. After a quick VAR check, Di Lorenzo saw red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity as the last defender with Haaland through on goal.

Manchester City’s next chance of the game would come in the 23rd minute. Tijjani Reijnders played in a decent cross from the left wing. His cross was headed just over by Erling Haaland as City looked to make their numerical advantage count.

Due to Napoli being reduced to ten men, Kevin De Bruyne would be replaced by Matias Olivera in the 26th minute. Antonio Conte was looking for more defensive solidity, so De Bruyne was taken off. De Bruyne’s return to the Etihad was turned into a non-event after Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s red card.

On the half-hour mark, Phil Foden would hit a low drive from long distance straight at Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the Napoli goal. The pattern of the game was set with City dominating possession and Napoli defending deep in a low block.

An inspired Vanja Milinkovic-Savic would frustrate Manchester City as the first half wore on.

Rodri would see a volley from outside the area saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic low down to his right in the 38th minute. Manchester City were continuing to dominate possession but weren’t creating any real clear-cut chances against a packed Napoli defence.

Nico O’Reilly would get his head on the end of a Bernardo Silva cross in the 41st minute. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic would make a quality save at the concession of a corner to prevent O’Reilly from giving City the lead. From the subsequent corner, Milinkovic-Savic would make an even better save to keep out a powerful Josko Gvardiol header.

Tijjani Reijnders would see a goal-bound shot blocked by Napoli’s stand-in captain Matteo Politano in the first minute of first-half stoppage time. Bernardo Silva picked out Reijnders with a quality ball to the penalty area. Politano blocked Reijnders’ goal-bound shot, and fortunately for Napoli, the rebound fell into Milinkovic-Savic’s arms on the goal-line.

That would be the last moment of note from the first half. Manchester City were the dominant side, but an inspired Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in Napoli’s goal prevented City from taking the lead.

Given that Napoli were down to ten men, it did seem that Pep Guardiola’s side would have to play with a quicker tempo in the second half. Whether or not Napoli would allow them to do so remained to be seen.

Second half

Manchester City would up the tempo to begin the second half. There was a quicker tempo to City’s passing as they attempted to break down a stubborn Napoli defence. Their best chance to start the second half came in the 50th minute. Jeremy Doku picked out Phil Foden inside the left-hand side of Napoli’s penalty area. Foden scuffed his shot wide of the far post, but Pep Guardiola’s side were beginning to up the ante.

Erling Haaland gives Manchester City the lead!!!!!

Manchester City would finally take the lead in the 56th minute. Rodri picked out Phil Foden with a good pass on the edge of the Napoli penalty area. Foden produced a beautiful chipped ball over the Napoli defence to play in Haaland. Manchester City’s number-nine chipped a stranded Vanja Milinkovic-Savic with a clever header to finally break Napoli’s stubborn resistance. It was also Haaland’s 50th Champions League goal in his 49th game in the competition.

Jeremy Doku makes it 2-nil with a brilliant piece of skill and a class finish.

Manchester City’s dazzling winger Jeremy Doku would double Manchester City’s lead in the 65th minute. Doku received the ball outside the Napoli penalty area. He cut his way into the box with a superb piece of skill. His ingenuity got himself into a good position in the penalty area. He then produced a quality left-footed finish to beat Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. Doku looks to be maturing as a player and his goal was a superb piece of play from the Belgian international.

Following Jeremy Doku’s goal the remainder of the game played out without incident. Both teams settled for the result and Pep Guardiola’s side picked up the ideal result to begin their Champions League league phase campaign.

First thoughts after the match.

In a game that looked to be a tough test for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s side cruised to a 2-nil victory. The sending off of Giovanni Di Lorenzo crippled Napoli’s chances. It took time for Pep Guardiola’s side to put the game to bed. But they did exactly that in the second half.

That is two wins out of two for Pep Guardiola’s side in their run of three tough fixtures. They have now seen off Manchester United and Napoli. City have scored five goals and conceded none in that time. Up next is a trip to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal on Sunday. Manchester City should be full of confidence and belief to take on Mikel Arteta’s side on Sunday.