Much of the pre-match attention centred on Napoli’s ex-Manchester contingent, but it was City’s recent arrival from Serie A, Tijjani Reijnders, who was first to go close with his stinging strike from range.
With 17 minutes gone, a Sam Beukema header from a corner brought the best out of Gianluigi Donnarumma, before the hosts launched a counter-attack that changed the game - referee Felix Zwayer initially judged Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s tackle on Erling Haaland to be fair, only to reverse the decision following a VAR review, sending the Napoli man off.
A Haaland header clipping the roof of the net soon after prompted Antonio Conte to hook Kevin De Bruyne and prematurely end the Belgian’s homecoming.
The visitors’ more defensive setup was frustrating City, who were limited to drilled efforts from Phil Foden and Rodri, which were dealt with by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The Serbian goalkeeper then made two fine stops in quick succession to deny headers from Nico O’Reilly and Josko Gvardiol, before reacting well to prevent a Matteo Politano own goal in first-half stoppage time.
The Cityzens’ frustrations looked to be continuing in the second half when Foden’s strike flashed across goal, but they finally found a way through 11 minutes after half-time.
Rodri fed Foden, who clipped a ball over the Napoli defence and onto Haaland, who used his head to loft the ball over Milinkovic-Savic to bring up the fastest-ever half-century in the UCL.
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Pep Guardiola’s men then gave themselves breathing space 10 minutes later when Jeremy Doku wriggled through the Partenopei and coolly finished for his first goal of the season.
The Italian champions’ defence managed to keep the chances to a minimum in the latter stages, but City had done enough to win just their second UCL match in their last eight outings in the competition, securing back-to-back wins for the first time in the 2025/26 season.
As for Napoli, they begin the UCL league phase by losing their 100% record this campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
