Man City's Walker hails keeper Ederson for role in Napoli win

By Simon Evans

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Manchester City defender Kyle Walker praised the team's Brazilian keeper Ederson after his first-half penalty save helped the Premier League leaders to a 2-1 Champions League win over Napoli.

After a sizzling opening 13 minutes which saw City take a two goal lead, through Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, Napoli clawed their way back into the game despite seeing a first-half spot kick superbly saved by Ederson.

"I thought the lads showed good character out there. Ederson has kept us in it and we need to say a big thanks to him," said England international Walker.

"We always knew they would come at us in the second half, with us going 2-0 up," he added.

City manager Pep Guardiola, who had praised Napoli highly before the game, said the win had come against high class opposition.

"Napoli are an exceptional side so I was expecting them to play the way they did," he said.

"They are one of the best sides I have faced as a coach so I am so, so happy to have won this game.

"They are one of the best teams I think in Europe. Today we beat an incredible team and we had to give an incredible performance to do that so I am very happy," he said.

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Toby Davis)