Manchester City have defeated Napoli 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in this evening's Champions League clash to extend their winning run to 10 games.
In a clash between Europe's two great entertainers, early goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus would prove to be enough for the Citizens.
Amadou Diawara pulled one back for the visitors from the spot in the second half, having seen Dries Mertens fail to do so in the first, but Premier League pacesetters City held out to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact.
© Offside
An unchanged City picked up from where they left off against Stoke City here three days ago by bagging two goals inside the opening quarter of an hour.
The first came via Sterling, who blasted home from close range for his fifth goal in five games after Kyle Walker's initial shot was blocked into his path.
Jesus, himself in form with eight in 11 this term, added a quick-fire second from the next attempt on target when picked out by a superb back-post delivery from Kevin De Bruyne.
© SilverHub
Napoli, showing two key changes in midfield this evening with Allan and Jorginho overlooked for selection, simply could not live with their opponents and could easily have found themselves three or four down.
Two chances in quick succession saw David Silva fail to connect from six yards out and Leroy Sane blast wide of the target with his volleyed attempt from an angle.
De Bruyne then struck the underside of the bar when attempting to pick out the far left corner with his curler, while Kalidou Koulibaly was in the right place at the right time to deny Jesus on the line after the Brazilian turned and shot.
© SilverHub
Despite their dominance, it could so easily have been game on once again before the break as Walker gave away a penalty by hauling down Raul Albiol, but Mertens - seven goals in eight league games for him this term - came out second best against Ederson.
The Partenopei were more in the contest in the second half, restricting City to just the one wayward Sane shot in the first 15 minutes following the restart.
Napoli had a glorious chance to pull one back 64 minutes in when, after one risky pass too many at the back, Fernandinho was caught out and Mertens took advantage by squaring for Marek Hamsik.
The Slovakia international had an empty net to aim for, yet John Stones recovered well and put his body between the ball and net to keep his side's advantage intact.
© Offside
Diawara did provide Napoli with a route back into the game with 17 minutes left to play, though, rolling the ball past Ederson from the spot for his first senior goal after Fernandinho brought down Faouzi Ghoulam in the box.
Jesus had a goal correctly ruled out for offside soon after and De Bruyne had a shot kept out at the near post by former Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina.
Serie A table-toppers Napoli still had belief of pulling off the comeback, however, coming close to doing so when Mertens blasted wide after being played through, before substitute Adam Ounas picked out Ederson with his weak long-range shot.
City sub Ilkay Gundogan almost added a third at the death, though his failure to beat Reina mattered little as City saw things through to take command of Group F at the midway point.
Daniel Lewis
