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Manchester City began their Champions League campaign with a dominant 2-0 win over 10-man Napoli at the Etihad, as Erling Haaland hit a record-breaking milestone and Jeremy Doku produced a moment of brilliance to seal the points.
The match was only 21 minutes old when Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was dismissed after a VAR intervention.
Having allowed Haaland to escape into space, the Italian full-back lunged in clumsily just outside the box, catching the Norwegian striker.
Initially waved on by the referee, the incident was reviewed on the pitchside monitor, and Di Lorenzo was shown a straight red card.
From that moment, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Antonio Conte’s side.
Napoli had come to Manchester with a clear defensive game plan, looking to frustrate City and limit space between the lines. In the early exchanges, Gianluigi Donnarumma’s deputy, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, produced a fine save to deny Tijjani Reijnders’ long-range strike, while Haaland headed narrowly over as the hosts grew into the contest.
Our #UCL campaign begins with a win! 🤩
🩵 2-0 🔵 pic.twitter.com/3S3TJyCO0D
