Napoli were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City in their first game of this season's Champions League. Lorenzo Di Giovanni's sending off on 20 minutes for a last-man foul on the last man proved costly as the Azzurri were unable to find a way back after the hosts scored twice in ten second-half minutes.
Antonio Conte offered the following analysis at after the match:
“Unfortunately the sending off changed the game. It's hard enough against City with 11 men; you can imagine what it's like playing with ten for 70 minutes
“In the first 20 minutes I thought we could perform at their level and cause problems for them over the course of the match. It's a shame about the red card and I'm sorry for Kevin [De Bruyne] because I had to take him off.
“It's a pity because I know we prepared well for this game and I got the impression we could do well and come away with a good result. But then we were forced to contain them.
“I come away with a good feeling about what we can do in Europe. I'm pleased with the performance and the character the lads showed. We had the right spirit and did lots of good things.”
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic also shared his thoughts after impressive personal display.:
"We were a man light for 70 minutes and held our shape well. That shows we're solid and is one of the positives to take away despite the defeat.
“I play when the boss wants me to help the team. I tried to keep everything out as best I could tonight. We're calm and we're all ready to play when the coach asks us to.”
Manchester City 2-0 Napoli (HT 0-0)
Scorers: Haaland 56, Doku 65.
MANCHESTER CITY: Donnarumma; Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Gvardiol (Ake 80), O'Reilly, Rodri (Nico Gonzalez 60), Bernardo Silva, Foden, Reijnders (Lewis 80), Doku (Savinho 70), Haaland (Bobb 80).
Coach: Guardiola.
NAPOLI: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Buongiorno, Spinazzola, Politano (Juan Jesus 55), Anguissa (Elmas 72), Lobotka (Gilmour 72), De Bruyne, McTominay, Hojlund (Neres 72). Coach: Conte.
Referee: Zwayer (Germany).
Sent off: Di Lorenzo 21.
Booked: Politano.
