Manchester City’s prolific striker Erling Haaland bagged a record-breaking goal as Pep Guardiola’s side kicked off their Champions League campaign with a dominant 2-0 victory over 10-man Napoli on Thursday.
Haaland became the quickest player in Champions League history to hit 50 goals in what was his 49th appearance in Europe’s elite competition when he cleverly headed home Phil Foden’s perfectly-placed flick in the 56th minute.
Jeremy Doku doubled City’s lead in the 65th when he turned quickly and darted past two defenders before slotting the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic from a tight angle.
Serie A leaders Napoli were reduced to 10 men in the 21st minute when captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was shown a straight red card for his last-ditch tackle on Haaland.
That spoiled the return of former longtime City captain Kevin De Bruyne, whose night was cut short after 25 minutes as Antonio Conte shuffled his team to adjust for the sending off.
City had the ball glued to their feet for most of the night and attacked in waves as Conte’s men defended for their lives and Milinkovic-Savic was kept on his toes with City taking 23 shots to Napoli’s one.
Guardiola summed up City’s night by saying: “A really, really good performance against a team, the culture, the DNA of the Italian teams, how they are able to stay when 10 men, defend every ball, defend every block, and defend the shots, the crosses, how aggressive they are, how strong their mentality.”
HAALAND FASTEST TO 50 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GOALS
One of City’s best chances resulted in a diving save on the line from Milinkovic-Savic to prevent a near own-goal from Matteo Politano seconds before halftime.
Haaland had a couple of near-misses before his record-breaking goal. He smashed the previous mark of 50 goals in 62 games by former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2007.
“Erling is always going to make that run,” said Foden. “It’s just about getting that connection. He seems to break every record going. It’s unheard of what he’s doing. What an unbelievable player.”
Haaland, who was not at his best last season, already has 12 goals in seven games for club and country so far this season.
The 34-year-old De Bruyne, who won 16 trophies in a glittering decade at City before leaving for Italy when his contract expired in June, received a warm reception from the Etihad crowd. Banners dotted the stadium including a huge one that read: “King Kev, once a Blue, always a Blue.”
The fans chanted his name in the game’s dying seconds, and he did a lap of the pitch after the final whistle to thank them.
Conte said taking De Bruyne off early was “the only substitution that I could do, honestly.
“I was really sorry for him because it was a game against his old team, but Kevin understood very well. I had only this decision.”
Conte lamented the early red card, saying “It is already difficult against City 11 v 11, and then after 20 minutes, it was impossible.
“With 10 men, defensively, we were really good. We are talking about Man City, a fantastic team. I go back to Italy with the mentality of the team, which I liked as they suffered together.”
City, 2023 Champions League winners, are aiming to finish in the top eight in the league phase and clinch an automatic last-16 spot to avoid a two-legged knockout playoff after they were eliminated by Real Madrid in the playoffs last season.
(Reuters)
