Guardiola hails ‘perfect’ Champions League start and claims Man City heading to Arsenal full of confidence
The City boss saw his side cruise to victory over Italian champions Napoli
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says his side are heading to Arsenal this weekend full of confidence having swept Napoli aside in the Champions League.
The Cityzens cruised to a 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s men at the Etihad to claim all three points in Gameweek 1.
An early red card set the tone of the game, with Kevin De Bruyne’s night being ended early after he made way 26 minutes in to restore balance to the 10 men of Napoli.
But it would make no difference after Erling Haaland bagged the opener in the second half, sending a looping header into the far corner.
Jeremy Doku’s dazzling run and finished killed the game off in Manchester, with the club building on the 3-0 win over rivals United last weekend.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: “Yes, it was [a perfect start to the Champions League campaign].
“We play a lot of minutes against 10. Italian teams are unbelievable [at defending]. I’ve faced them many many times in the Champions League. The resilience, the focus…I admire them so much.
“I’m very pleased. It’s been a tough week [Manchester derby plus Napoli] and we have an incredibly tough challenge on Sunday [against Arsenal] but we are going there with a good feeling.”
Conte claims red card ruined clash
In the other dugout, Cont was left disappointed after the dismissal of his captain, Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
The Italian full-back lunged in on Haaland outside of the box, and despite initially waving play on, the referee was prompted to review the footage and change his decision.
Speaking on the game, the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss said: “It’s difficult to play against Manchester City 11 v 11 and after 20 minutes it is impossible with 10 men.
Defensively we were really good but with their two goals we can do much better, but I don’t have anything to tell my players – the commitment, the attitude was good.
“If it had continued 11 v 11 you could see another game in my opinion. We’re talking about Manchester City, a fantastic team and we have to recover and prepare to play the next game.
“I come back to Italy with the mentality of the team and I like the way they suffered together but we can’t concede two goals.”