Sterling and Jesus see off Napoli

Manchester City v Napoli. Premier League leaders v Serie A leaders. As expected, this game did not disappoint.

To say City dominated the opening half an hour would be an understatement. They went 2-0 up within 13 minutes thanks to Sterling and Jesus, with Napoli simply incapable of dealing with the Citizens attacking prowess.

The Italian side did, however, grow into the game and were awarded a penalty either side of half-time, the first of which was saved by Ederson, the second cooly dispatched by Amadou Diawara.

Despite late Napoli pressure, City held on to close out the game and record their third Champions League win in as many matches this season.

Pep Guardiola’s men made an incredible start to the game, opening the scoring within nine minutes. Leroy Sane played in David Silva on the left flank, and he managed to get to the byline before cutting back into the path of Kyle Walker. His effort was well blocked by Kalidou Koulibaly but Sterling was there to pick up the pieces and tuck home for the hosts.

And the Etihad crowd didn’t have to wait long for their team to make it two. Four minutes later a poor defensive header from Raul Alibol landed at the feet of Kevin De Bruyne, who drove down the right before delivering an inch-perfect cross to Jesus, allowing him to easily tap in.

City continued their dominance and could have made it three with a number of chances. On 25 minutes, De Bruyne hammered a strike against the bar following good work from Sane on the left, and just before the half-hour mark, Jesus had a strike blocked on the line by Koulibaly.

After that, however, Napoli did start to come into the game and were awarded a penalty when Walker wrapped his arms round Albiol and dragged him to the ground inside the box. Dries Mertens stepped up but his fierce strike down the middle was saved by the feet of Ederson, with the rebound being cleared by Fernandinho.

The visitors continued to push but were unable to create a clear cut chance from open play before the half-time whistle blew.

City again looked bright after the restart, but Napoli became more and more of a force as the half wore on.

The best chance of the second period came for the visitors just after the hour mark as Mertens latched onto a loose ball and was in on goal. With an onrushing Ederson in his sights, the winger calmly squared to Marek Hamsik, who had a free shot but John Stones threw his body in front of it to save City.

Napoli did pull one back following their second penalty on 73 minutes. Faouzi Ghoulam was brought down by Fernandinho in the box, and this time Diawara made no mistake as he easily beat Edersdon.

As the Italian side pushed for the equaliser, City were having more chances on the break, with Sane and substitute Ilkay Gundogan seeing efforts saved by Pepe Reina in the dying minutes.

The hosts ran the clock down and closed the game out with relative ease, meaning they maintain their 100% start to life in Group F. Napoli, on the other hand, remain on three points from their opening three games.