Man City 2-0 Napoli LIVE – UEFA Champions League result as Jeremy Doku doubles City lead as Erling Haaland breaks record against 10-man Napoli

HAALAND BREAKS HISTORY AS CITY OVERCOME TEN-MAN NAPOLI IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OPENER

Erling Haaland made history as he became the quickest player to reach 50 Champions League goals as he helped Manchester City to a winning start to their campaign, with a 2-0 win against ten-man Napoli.

Second half goals from Haaland and Jeremy Doku saw City get off to a winning start and avoid a repeat of last year’s near-disaster in the league phase, as the Cityzens capitalised on the extra man to sweep aside the Serie A champions.

The visitors were forced to play with ten players for nearly 70 minutes as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was shown a straight red card just 21 minutes into the first half. A perfectly weighted through-ball from Phil Foden would see Haaland storm towards goal before Di Lorenzo was able to cut the move short just before he reached the box.

Whilst referee Felix Zwayer would waive away the pleas from City players, it would be VAR which would see the decision overturned and Di Lorenzo sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Kevin de Bruyne returned to the Etihad just months after announcing his departure to Napoli in the summer, ending a decade-long stint in Manchester but saw his homecoming short-lived as he was replaced just 26 minutes into the game as a result of Di Lorenzo’s red card.

Despite efforts to break the deadlock heading into half-time, albeit to be denied by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, who proved to be pivotal to keep his side in the clash, City would have to wait until the second half to find the opener.

It was once again the combination of Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, which would see City move ahead as a neat ball over the top by Foden would see Haaland find the backpost with the daintiest floating header to loop over Milinkovic-Savic.

City would double their lead just ten minutes later when Jeremy Doku danced into box to slot his effort through the Napoli goalkeeper’s legs to secure all three points for the home side.

Manchester City return to the Premier League when they face title contenders Arsenal at Etihad Stadium on September 21, whilst Napoli face Pisa in Serie A on September 22.