Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City turned on the style to beat Napoli 4-2 in a rocking UEFA Champions League tie at the Stadio San Paolo to confirm their berth in the knockouts of the continental competition.

Lorzeno Insigne got the hosts off to a flyer by finishing off a well-worked team move in the 21st minute but City responded by equalising via a towering header from centre-back Nicolas Otamendi in the 34th minute.

Advertisement

Sergio Aguero, on the brink of becoming City’s all-time top scorer, came close to scoring a historic 178th goal for the club (all competitions) but his deflected effort went just wide of Pepe Reina’s goal in the first-half.

Must read: Champions League: Dele Alli stars as Tottenham Hotspur stun Real Madrid

Guardiola, as his wont, had opted to rotate his forwards with Gabriel Jesus, warming the bench as Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling flanked Aguero. There were shuffles in midfield and at the back as well as Danilo came in for Kyle Walker while Ilkay Gundogan started in place of David Silva.  The strategy, which has brought handsome dividends in the Premier League, wasn’t quite effective in the first-half as the hosts found away to neutralise City’s pacy attack.

Don’t miss: Champions League: Roma put Chelsea to the sword

The Citizens would hit the post once as they tried to take the lead before the interval but it wasn’t to be and the half-time whistle sounded with the teams deadlocked.

Sterling would come close to giving City the lead after a weaving run into the Napoli box but his shot was blocked at the last minute as the second-half got off to a thrilling start.

City continued to press and found the goal they were looking for, even if it came via an unlikely source. Centre-back John Stones rose highest to power a header that crashed in off the crossbar before bouncing out but thanks to goal-line technology, the Citizens were ahead in the 46th minute.

Napoli weren’t cowed, however, and very nearly equalised via Insigne but the diminutive forward’s curling effort cannoned off the crossbar, much to the disbelief of the home crowd.

The hosts were enjoying their best spell of the second-half after conceding and found their way back into the tie when defender Raul Albiol was brought down by City winger Sane inside the box.
Midfielder Jorginho stepped up and nonchalantly sent Ederson the wrong way to level the tie with less than half an hour remaining.

Napoli ideally should have then scored a third when Jose Maria Callejon was slipped in by Mertens, but the Spaniard’s finish was high and wide. And City made Napoli pay for their profligacy immediately via a rapid break.

Sane broke with pace and while he was dispossessed, the ball fell to Aguero, who calmly scored a historic 178th goal in a City shirt.

Both managers made a number of substitutions after Aguero’s strike as they sought to freshen things up but it was to be City’s night and Sterling made sure of the three points when he beat Reina in the 92nd minute with a low shot.

On top of Group F with 12 points from four games, City are assured of a place in the knockout stages while the situation is grim for Napoli, as they have a paltry tally of three points and trail second-placed Shaktar Donetsk by six points.