Erling Haaland became the fastest player ever to score 50 goals in the Champions League as Manchester City beat Napoli 2–0 in their opening group game.
The Norwegian striker reached the milestone in just 49 matches, scoring with a header in the second half to help City start their campaign with a win.
Before that, the match saw a lot of drama, as Kevin De Bruyne made his return to the Etihad Stadium but was taken off after just 26 minutes. The Belgian star, who left City in the summer after 10 years at the club, was warmly welcomed by the fans. However, his return didn’t go as planned. He was substituted by Napoli manager Antonio Conte after Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was sent off for pulling down Haaland when he was through on goal.
Despite having an extra player, City found it hard to score in the first half. Napoli’s goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić was in top form, making several brilliant saves. He stopped powerful shots from Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, and Rodri, and saved headers from Nico O’Reilly and Rúben Dias. He even managed to stop a deflected shot that almost rolled over the line.
But 11 minutes after the break, Haaland finally got past him, heading in a clever pass from Foden to put City 1–0 up.
Later, Jérémy Doku scored the second goal after some neat footwork, making sure of the victory for Pep Guardiola’s side.
It was a tough night for two former Manchester United players, Scott McTominay and Rasmus Højlund, who both played for Napoli and left Manchester disappointed.