Too much City but Napoli doesn't look out of place

IManchester City confirms itself as the team in the best form in Europe at the moment and beats Napoli 4-2 at the San Paolo, thus casting serious doubt on the possibility of the Neapolitans to advance to the next round in the Champions League even if they win their last two games. A start without any fear for Pep Guardiola's men who attack Napoli very high up, but Sarri's men play on equal terms, breaking through more on the left side (that of the Insigne-Ghoulam binary) than on the Hysaj-Callejon axis.
At 20' the Azzurri took the lead thanks to a splendid goal by Lorenzo Insigne, freed in the area by a sublime assist from Mertens and then very good at beating Ederson who came out. At the half hour mark Ghoulam had to give up due to a knee problem and immediately after it was the guests who had a sensational opportunity triggered by Aguero, who sent it out of time, Sterling took advantage and from the right passed it again to Kun who tried a diagonal, but a deflection saved Reina.
City's reaction was vehement and materialized thanks to Otamendi, who, following a corner kick, jumped higher than Hysaj with his head and beat Reina. The draw encouraged the citizens, who, following another corner kick with Stones, hit the crossbar. The Manchester City central defender did not miss at the start of the second half, however, when, again following a set piece, he rose higher than Stones, headed, hit the crossbar, and before Reina could reach it, the ball ended up in the net. Napoli tried to react, dragged by the San Paolo and the Neapolitan Insigne, who sent Danilo out of time and unleashed a splendid right-footed curler that hit the crossbar.
In the quarter of an hour of the second half, again on the developments of a corner, Napoli earns a penalty for a clumsy intervention in the area by Sane' on Albiol. Jorginho steps up to the spot and sends the ball one way and Ederson the other. In the space of a few seconds, the Azzurri go from Heaven to Hell.
First Hamsik serves a great ball to Mertens, who passes it to Callejon who arrives all alone one-on-one with Ederson, but deflects the Spaniard's shot from two steps out into a corner. From the wrong corner, however, comes the goal of the new English overtaking, with Sane' who starts from his own half of the field, resists the challenge of Hysaj, then the ball ends up to Aguero who beats Reina coming out. In the final, Guardiola's men freeze the ball possession, also taking advantage of Napoli's tiredness, and with Bernardo Silva they even come close to the fourth goal, but Pepe Reina says no. The Spanish goalkeeper can do nothing however in full recovery, when in a typical counterattack action, Sterling served by De Bruyne sets the final result at 4-2.

NAPLES-MANCHESTER CITY 2-4

NAPLES (4-3-3): Reina 6; Hysaj 5, Albiol 6.5, Koulibaly 6, Ghoulam 6.5 (30′ pt Maggio 5.5); Allan 5 (29′ st Rog 5.5), Jorginho 6 (36′ st Ounas n/a), Hamsik 5.5; Callejon 5, Mertens 6, Insigne 7 On the bench: Sepe, Chiriches, Zielinski, Diawara. Coach: Sarri 6.5.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Ederson 6.5; Danilo 5, Stones 6.5, Otamendi 7.5, Delph 5.5; Fernandinho 5.5, Gundogan 6 (25′ st David Silva 6); Sterling 7.5, De Bruyne 6.5, Sane' 7 (43′ st Gabriel Jesus n/a); Aguero 6.5 (29′ st Bernardo Silva 6.5) On the bench: Bravo, Walker, Mangala, Toure'. Coach: Guardiola 6.5.

Referee: Brych (Germany) 6.

GOALS: 20′ pt Insigne, 33′ pt Otamendi, 3′ st Stones, 16′ st Jorginho on penalty, 23′ st Aguero, 47'st Sterling

NOTE: Cold evening, pitch in good condition. Yellow cards: Otamendi, Mertens, Koulibaly. Corners: 6-4 for Manchester City. Injury time: 2′, 4′.