With a 2-0 victory over Napoli on Thursday, Manchester City capitalized on Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s early red card to defeat Napoli, making Erling Haaland the fastest player to score 50 Champions League goals.
Before Jeremy Doku’s men started their quest for Champions League glory with a winning start, Haaland only made 49 appearances before scoring his half-century in the elite competition in Europe.
Kevin De Bruyne’s fairytale comeback to the Etihad was halted after only 26 minutes as a result of Di Lorenzo’s dismissal.
De Bruyne returned to the team as a hero just months after leaving as one of City’s greatest players in the club’s history.
Before kick-off, a number of banners emblazoned the Belgian’s name, which paid homage to the man who scored nearly 300 goals or assists in 422 games for Manchester.
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Antonio Conte sacrificed the 34-year-old to add more depth to his defense with the addition of Mathas Olivera, but he showed no signs of sentiment.
Napoli’s ability as an attacking force was also neutered by Di Lorenzo’s dismissal and De Bruyne’s departure.
The visitors had a chance to equalize with only 11 men on the field when City’s new goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma surpassed his best efforts to parry Sam Beukema’s header from a corner.
At 21 minutes, Di Lorenzo made a desperate lunge to stop Haaland from running clear on goal and eliminate the Norwegian.
Referee Felix Zwayer initially believed the defender had touched the ball, but VAR gave him the go-ahead to look at and correct his error.
Napoli held on until the break thanks to some outstanding goalkeeping from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The Serbian, who only played for Manchester United for a short time in his career, made some impressive saves to deny Rodri, Nico O’Riley, and Josko Gvardiol.
Matteo Politano resisted Milinkovic-Savic’s goal-bound effort even when the match’s stoppage came to an end when the match was over.
After the final eleven minutes of the second half, the Napoli rearguard finally broke free.
Haaland scored from the penalty spot for his 12th goal of the season for club and nation, which was a loop over Milinkovic-Savic.
Doku then delivered the decisive blow by smashing a brilliant individual run past three Napoli goalkeepers before coolly slotting his effort under the onrushing goalkeeper.
With two defeats in their first three Premier League games against Tottenham and Brighton, City’s season got off to a mediocre start.
After a consoling 3-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend, Guardiola’s men have steadied the ship for the entire two-thirds of a great week.
Guardiola could afford the luxury of resting Rodri and Haaland during the final few minutes, which resembled a training session as City whipped the ball around at will ahead of a trip to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
In what is likely to be their most difficult game of the season, the Italian champions were content to limit the damage.
Source: Channels TV
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