Another day, another record for Manchester City's goalscoring freak Erling Haaland.
The giant Norwegian became the fastest player to score 50 Champions League goals on Friday (AEST) when he nodded home a sublime dinked pass from Phil Foden.
Haaland hit the half century in his 49th game, obliterating the record previously set by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
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The Dutch star took 62 games to score 50 while Lionel Messi, widely regarded as the greatest player ever, is third quickest with 66.
City's 2-0 win in their Champions League opener was made easier when Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was sent off in the 21st minute for his desperate challenge on Haaland.
Jeremy Doku scored City's second as Pep Guardiola's men built on the momentum created in the 3-0 Premier League derby win over Manchester United.
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Di Lorenzo's red card spoiled the return of former City captain Kevin De Bruyne, whose night was cut short after 25 minutes as Antonio Conte shuffled his team to adjust for the sending off.
City had the ball glued to their feet for most of the night and attacked in waves as Conte's men defended for their lives and goalkeeper Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was kept on his toes with City taking 23 shots to Napoli's one.
One of City's best chances resulted in a diving save on the line from Milinkovic-Savic to prevent a near own goal from Matteo Politano seconds before halftime.
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Haaland had a couple of near misses before his record breaking goal.
"Erling is always going to make that run," Foden said.
"It's just about getting that connection. He seems to break every record going. It's unheard of what he's doing. What an unbelievable player."
Haaland, who was not at his best last season, already has 12 goals in seven games for club and country so far this season.
"At his age, the amount of goals – nobody can talk to him," France and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry said on CBS.
The 34-year-old De Bruyne, who won 16 trophies in a glittering decade at City before leaving for Italy when his contract expired in June, received a warm reception from the Etihad crowd.
Banners dotted the stadium including a huge one that read: "King Kev, once a Blue, always a Blue."
The fans chanted his name in the game's dying seconds, and he did a lap of the pitch after the final whistle to thank them.
Conte said taking De Bruyne off early was "the only substitution that I could do, honestly," but he wished he didn't have to.
"I was really sorry for him because it was a game against his old team, but Kevin understood very well. I had only this decision," Conte said.
Conte lamented the early red card, saying: "It is already difficult against City 11 v 11, and then after 20 minutes, it was impossible.
"With 10 men, defensively, we were really good. We are talking about Man City, a fantastic team. I go back to Italy with the mentality of the team, which I liked as they suffered together."
City, 2023 Champions League winners, are aiming to finish in the top eight in the league phase and clinch an automatic last 16 spot to avoid a two legged knockout tie after they were eliminated by Real Madrid in the playoffs last season.
– with Reuters
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