Key events
And that’s all from me. Here’s tonight’s match report again. Bye!
Louise Taylor watched Marcus Rashford shine on his return to England:
Antonio Conte discusses Napoli’s night. Of the red card, he says that “honestly, I didn’t see the situation again”, but that “the game was ruined” as a result. “I don’t know if it was right, but the referee made his decision and we have to accept it”. He says withdrawing De Bruyne in the aftermath was “the only decision I could do. I had only this option”, and insists that “we can do well in the Champions League”.
I think that already it’s difficult to play 11 against 11. After 20 minutes it was impossible. I think that also with 10 men, defensively we were really good. The two goals I think we can do much better. But I don’t have anything to tell to my players, because the commitment was good. I think if it had continued 11 against 11 we could see another game in my opinion, but you’re talking about Manchester City, a fantastic team. I come back to Italy with the mentality of the team, because I liked the way they suffered, suffered together.
Jamie Jackson has filed his match report from the Etihad, and here it is:
Pep Guardiola said of drawing Napoli and having Kevin De Bruyne return: “It was always going to happen, right?”
But he might have spoken of his No 9’s ruthlessness, as Erling Haaland broke this game open with Champions League goal No 50 in a record 49 matches, a feat that handsomely beats Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previous 62-appearance mark.
Thursday night’s strike was a seventh in five for Manchester City – form as ominous as the Norwegian’s in the immortal 2022-3 treble season.
Much more here:
Haaland’s goal was his 50th in the Champions League, scored in his 49th game. He thus breaks Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record for being the fastest to that mark – the Dutchman took 62 games, with Lionel Messi third on the list having taken 66. Absolute rubbish, he was.
The fans sing for Kevin de Bruyne, while Phil Foden has a chat:
Perfect start, against a very tough opponent. They’re a nightmare team to break down, the structure, how they keep so deep. They give you minimal space. Overall a solid performance. First half was a bit frustrating, I wasn’t getting many touches in between the lines but I knew second half there’d be one or two chances where I could maybe turn on the ball. Erling’s always going to make that run, it’s just about making that connection.
Final score: Manchester City 2-0 Napoli
90+3 mins: The ball goes out for a Napoli goal kick, at which the referee strolls over to Milinković-Savić, demands the ball from him, and then blows for full time. City bank the win!
90+1 mins: There’ll be a couple of additional minutes at the referee’s discretion.
88 mins: The stands look fairly empty now. City have scored two excellent goals, but it has not been a night of great drama.
85 mins: The game is being played entirely in Napoli’s half, and mostly within 10 yards of their penalty area.
84 mins: Sporting, meanwhile, had scored two goals in two minutes when I last updated, but then went and scored a third in three. They lead Kairat 4-0.
82 mins: Eintracht Frankfurt now lead Galatasaray 5-1, with Ansgar Knauff the latest to get on the scoresheet. And to think the Turks led for nearly half an hour. They could do with a bit of, um, Ansgar management.
79 mins: Even more substitutions! Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb come on, with Reijnders, Gvardiol and Haaland departing.
78 mins: City keep the ball for a while before it’s finally worked back to Savinho, who takes on Spinazzola and goes down very easily, leaving the referee unimpressed.
75 mins: The substitutions suggest that both teams are content now to settle for this result, and so does the action.
72 mins: More substitutional action, as David Neres, Billy Gilmour and Eljif Elmas come on for Napoli, while Anguissa, Hojlund and Lobotka go off.
69 mins: City bring Savinho on for Doku.
69 mins: There are several goals to report in tonight’s other games: Sporting have scored two in a minute to lead Kairat 3-0, and Marcus Rashford has scored twice to put Barcelona in control at Newcastle.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Napoli (Doku, 66 mins)
That might help! This time it’s not Doku finding someone else on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, it’s someone else finding him. To be more accurate, he’s found outside the area and takes himself to the six-yard box, squaring up Beukema and feinting past him, before sliding a low shot under Milinković-Savić.
66 mins: Unless the broadcasters have turned down their microphones, Napoli’s fans have got a little quieter since the goal, and City’s not much louder, so the ground feels, from several hundred miles away, a little flat.
64 mins: Donnarumma does his first thing for a while, catching a misdirected cross from the right.
62 mins: Anguissa goes down, after feeling some extremely minimal contact between his head and a City player. The game is stopped, which annoys the crowd, but not for long.
60 mins: City make their first change, replacing Rodri with Nico Gonzalez.
58 mins: That’s a beautifully created and wonderfully taken goal. The dinked pass left Haaland only one available finish, but he was lightning fast to size up the situation and produced the perfect header to guide the ball out of the keeper’s reach. Just superbly done.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Napoli (Haaland, 56 mins)
The breakthrough! Foden chips the ball up and into the area, and Haaland dabs a header over Milinković-Savić and into the corner of the net!
55 mins: It’s Politano who goes off, Conte deciding he can’t be having a man on a booking at the heart of defence. Jesus becomes the third Napoli captain of the night.
54 mins: Napoli are going to bring on another defender. You can never have too many. Juan Jesus is getting ready to come on.
52 mins: Napolie’s replacement captain, Matteo Politano, earns a booking for pulling back Doku.
50 mins: And another chance! Again the ball is worked down the left and infield from there, Doku passing this time to Foden, who from a very similar spot to Reijnders a minute earlier does opt to shoot, but misses the far post.
49 mins: They have now, if only with a few panicked clearances. Reijnders has half a chance from the left corner of the six-yard box but he tries to pass to Haaland, and hits a defender.
48 mins: Since Anguissa laid the ball back to Milinković-Savić from kick-off I’m not sure Napoli have touched it.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! The away team start the second half.
The players are back out, with no further halftimely substitutions.
Manchester City had 16 shots on goal in the first half. Napoli had one.
Elsewhere in the Champions League tonight:
Club Brugge 4-1 Monaco (FT)
Copenhagen 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen (FT)
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Galatasaray
Newcastle United 0-0 Barcelona
Sporting 1-0 Kairat
“42 minutes played, and not one mention of Højlund!” writes Danicus. “Has he been that anonymous?” He’s very much been present, but this is not turning out to be a particularly rewarding night to be a Napoli centre-forward.
Half time score: Manchester City 0-0 Napoli (goals); Manchester City 11-10 Napoli (players)
45+5 mins: Peeeeeep! Half of the time has been played, and none of the goals have been scored.
45+2 mins: Politano is punching the air in celebration, it’s almost as if he scored a goal! In fact he’s celebrating because he didn’t – Bernardo Silva slides an excellent pass from the right into the feet of Reijnders in the middle, and his low shot could well have been going in before Politano stuck a foot out, and was definitely going in afterwards, but Milinković-Savić reacts smartly to keep it out!
45+1 mins: There’ll be four minutes of stoppage time, or something like it.
45 mins: City haven’t created any clear chances from open play, but they’re creating a lot of slightly murky ones. Silva crosses again, and Reijnders’ attempted back-flick-header clears the bar.