Napoli (H) | CL | Post Match Thread

[herrock]

Another positive performance, Doku is starting to deliver, Rodri getting fitter, Phil is back and we have a top keeper between the posts.

 

[noseve]

I just hope that all of us who, 3 hours ago, wanted to go flat out for a win tonight, can actually remember that we were happy to treat Arsenal as a free hit, come the end of the match on Sunday.

Before last weekend most would have taken 2 victories out of the 3, so it's definitely another day to enjoy to the max.

 

[Burtonblue]

At last a settled back 4
Khushanov absolutely outstanding
Please don’t change it Pep

 

[willipp]

Good performance and most importantly start with 3 points. Kush at right back just feels like the main option moving forward and gives us a real stability.

 

[the blue panther]

Amazing win, even against 10 men, considering they had Scott Maradona in the team.

Generous of you - I was thinking of Scott Iniesta :-)

 

[Stelea]

Could that bore of a Commentator have been any more negative about us….
Constantly mentioned playing 10
Said only Haaland scores for us this season
Lose at weekend 9 behind dippers
Referenced last seasons poor campaign many times
Etc
Etc
Plus that droning co-com Lucy Ward!
Sounded tonight like they were commenting from a studio in London.

 

[Dazzle84]

Have Joe and Lescott swapped barnets?

Think Joe's might have a remarkable comeback around Christmas

 

[Earlyriser]

Was not the most taxing of games either physically or mentally so there should be plenty left in the tank for Sunday. After that we've got a couple of easier fixtures so if we need to players can be rested then and we should have a couple more back from injury

 

[Eaststander1]

There will be ups and down this season but based on the last 2 games there is an energy and the makings of a decent team.

We may not be back but we are doing okay.

I just hope we haven't exerted ourselves too much, Sundays game at Arsenal is a tough one, and they've had two days more rest than we have ....

 

[Big Chap]

I’m extremely worried about how shit Donnarumma is with his feet and his flapping at corners. We simply cannot play without Ederson. Can’t believe the club.

I think we’ll be just fine. Keep the faith….

 

[.db.]

Surprised they won the Scudetto last season, didn’t think much to them even with eleven men. Hard to break down but they didn’t play good football or look threatening.

Thought it was a controlled performance by us. Felt like we lacked one more player with a bit of creativity in the team, just felt one short of that. But game was always going to be over as soon as we made the breakthrough.

Rodri and Foden feel like new signings compared to last season.

 

[Mcfc1.9.8.0]

Huge win that

 

[dickie davies]

It did totally nullify their attacking ability though.

Having Rasmus Birtles on the team sheet did that

 

[SamTheGuru]

I just hope we haven't exerted ourselves too much, Sundays game at Arsenal is a tough one, and they've had two days more rest than we have ....

Why would you think we exerted ourselves too much? I thought it was pretty much the perfect result, We did exactly what we needed to do.

 

[Platt Lane 59]

Could that bore of a Commentator have been any more negative about us….
Constantly mentioned playing 10
Said only Haaland scores for us this season
Lose at weekend 9 behind dippers
Referenced last seasons poor campaign many times
Etc
Etc
Plus that droning co-com Lucy Ward!
Sounded tonight like they were commenting from a studio in London.

Nah.
Commentating from Rag Central - a spare, hired BBC studio in Salford...

 

[Vienna_70]

Commentators don’t half make you laugh.

Pre-match, it was, Napoli will be a stern test for City.

Near the end of the game, it was, City will face tougher opponents in this season's Champions League, implying that Napoli weren’t up to much

 

[East Level 2]

Difficult to judge playing against ten, but it was our hardest CL home game and a great result.
Erl's form suggests he'd have scored had he not been fouled so Napoli can have few complains.
As for our other opponents:
Real Mardarse won with a debatable penalty.
Dortmund, Bodo and Leverkusen drew
Monaco lost 4-1
Villareal lost 1-0
Galatasaray lost 5-1
Last season Villa were eighth with 16 points. If we take that as the bar this season we should do it with another seven points at home and a couple of away wins. Top four would give us home advantage in the second leg of the quarter finals and top two would give us home advantage in the second leg of the semi.
I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself but the two wins this week have got me singing the blues again.

 

[Burtonblue]

I thought Rodri was excellent.
He dictated the tempo just like before his injury and put in a few sharp tackles to boot.
The early signs are positive that he will come back to a very high level.

 

[.db.]

What was the crowd tonight? Looked a good turnout

I’d guess at about 49-51k. Which is about right for what we get in the early games in the CL.

There were chunks of seats at the top of the South and Colin Bell top tiers which looked like they might have been unsold seats from the ticket tout partners with the way they were bunched together. Plus around 2k unsold from the City tx site. But the lower bowl was pretty much full.

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, City may not be on the big downward slide everyone thinks we are on. Average age of back five was 23. Throw in foden and Haaland, both 25, Doku 23, Bobb 22, Savinho 21, Cherki 22, the future is looking bright. Might need another season but I don’t see a decline in the way many do. A little worried about having a tough game today and then Arsenal on Saturday but I reckon they would have had a tougher training session today than we had a game. Another 60 mins for Rodri, Stones hopefully on his way back, Nico looking more accomplished each game, Doku on fire, Phil getting his mojo back, what’s to moan about?