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Manchester City launched its champions league campaign with a 2-0 dominant victory over Napoli’s ten men in Etihad, as Erling Haaland reached a record milestone, and Jeremy Doku had a shine time to seal the points.
The game had only 21 minutes when Napoli captain, Giovanni di Lorenzo, was dismissed after a VAR intervention.
After allowing Haaland to escape in space, the Italian was fixed in a clumsy in the box, outside the box, trapping the Norwegian striker.
Initially agitated by the referee, the incident was reviewed by the border monitor and di Lorenzo was shown a straight red card.
From that moment, it would always be an ascending battle by Antonio Conte.
Napoli had come to Manchester with a clear defensive play plan, seeking frustrating the city and limiting the space between the lines. In the first exchanges, Gianluigi Member Donnarumma, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, had a good salvation to deny the long-range strike by Tijjani Reijnders, while Haaland went closely as the host became the competition.
At the other end, Napoli’s best opportunity came from a piece, but Beukemma’s new goalkeeper was hit by the new goalkeeper in the city, in front of his family’s club.
After the dismissal of Di Lorenzo, the city began to dominate, recording 12 shots before the half. Phil Foden, encouraged everywhere, approached a clear pass to Reijnders, whose head came out.
Josko Gvardiol threatened twice with the headers, only to be denied by the excellent Milinkovic-Savic, who also frustrated O’reilly and Rodri with a strong reflection.
Napoli barely made it out of his half, managing only 26% possession and a lonely shot before the interval.
Despite the relentless pressure of the city, the score remained 0-0 at halftime, with the side of frustrated Guardiola, but patient, knowing that the advance is likely to arrive.
Advance of the second half
This advance came in the 56th minute, and it was Haaland who delivered it. The striker entered the Foden hunt, the striker made a head over Milinkovic-Savic and to the end to get his 50th goal from the Champions League.
Notably, the Norwegian reached half a century in his 49th appearance: the fastest player in the history of the competition to do so.
Napoli, he wrote again, now he had to pursue the shadows. The passage of City Slick took them and with Doku irresistible form on the left flank, a second goal was inevitable.
Arrived properly in the 65th minute. Receiving the Kingjnders Ball outside the area, the Belgian end weaved its way ahead of the three Napoli defenders before it calmly decreases the ball under the header. It was an impressive solo effort, emphasizing why Guardiola sees him as one of the most dangerous attackers in the city this season.
From there, the party settled in a controlled possession exercise. City hit the ball safely, retaining energy before its weekend clash with Arsenal.
The substitutions followed, with Haaland, Rodri, Gvardiol and Doku, then after the prominent contributions.
In the meantime, Napoli headed for his bench in search of fresh legs, but with Rasmus Hojlund again he did not record a single shot in more than 300 minutes of action against the city, his attack remained forceful.
The story side will now reflect on a miserable record: 13 trips to England in the European competition without a single victory.
Reduced to ten men so soon, they never seemed to change this statistics. However, for Guardiola, victory will be a great impetus for trust.
It reduces its head to head to four wins, and sends the city to the next round of fixations with confidence.
