Manchester City opened the 2025-2026 Champions League journey with a convincing victory over Napoli at the Etihad Stadium. Coach Pep Guardiola's team took advantage of their home field, imposing a game to win all 3 points.
From the first minutes, Man City pressed with a familiar attack. The trio of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland continuously stirred up the opponent's defense, creating many dangerous opportunities towards goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
However, Napoli also showed their resilience with sharp counter-attacks. Notably, center back Sam Beukema had a dangerous header, forcing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to fly to save the goal.
The turning point of the match came in the 21st minute, when Giovanni Di Lorenzo received a direct red card for a rough tackle, leaving Napoli with only 10 men. This situation forced coach Antonio Conte to adjust his tactics, and he immediately decided to take Kevin De Bruyne off.
After a series of missed opportunities, in the 56th minute, the home team finally broke the deadlock. Foden made a delicate push for Haaland to jump high to head the ball close to the goal, opening the score 1-0. This goal fully demonstrated the Norwegian striker's satereeing instinct.
Just 9 minutes later, the score was doubled. Doku received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, passed a series of Napoli defenders and then fired a decisive shot, sealing a 2-0 victory for Man City. In the remaining time, Guardiola proactively took Haaland and many key players off, while Napoli was almost helpless in finding counter-attacking opportunities.
A smooth start helped The Citizens win all 3 points, while affirming their position as the leading candidate for the Champions League championship this season. Meanwhile, Napoli suffered a defeat and will have to make a lot of effort in the next matches.
