Porto 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland double gives Maresca dream Champions League start

Manchester City kicked off their Champions League campaign with a win as Erling Haaland scored twice in their 2-0 victory against Porto at Estadio do Dragao. 

Having opened their Premier League campaign with three consecutive wins, Enzo Maresca’s strong start to life in the City top job continued in Portugal.

And it was Haaland who made the difference again, having also scored Saturday's winner against Coventry City. He followed up his 47th-minute header with a cool finish in stoppage time, taking his goal tally in the Champions League to 59, the seventh-most of all time. 

After a tepid start, City took control of the match, with Antoine Semenyo cutting inside and forcing Diogo Costa into making the first of several saves in the first half. 

Semenyo was involved again moments later as his incisive pass picked out Phil Foden. His cross was met by a towering header from Haaland, but Costa was on hand to punch the ball behind for a corner. 

The visitors' grip on the encounter continued to tighten, and they should have taken the lead in the 32nd minute. Haaland's right-footed shot was repelled by Costa, before the Porto goalkeeper sprung back to his feet to deny Rayan Cherki's attempt on the rebound. 

However, Porto's resistance was broken two minutes after the restart when Enzo Fernandez's cross was headed in off the left post by Haaland after Cherki did brilliantly to keep the ball in play before off-loading to the Argentina midfielder. 

But Francesco Farioli's side responded well to going behind, with Alberto Costa's header across goal just evading a touch from Nehuen Perez, before Alan Varela whipped a curling effort just wide of the target. 

Maresca's men were able to navigate that wave of Porto pressure, however, despite Donnarumma nearly being caught out when his clearance was closed down by William Gomes, and the away side came on strong again in the closing stages. 

Rayan Ait-Nouri fired wide with his weaker right foot, before Elliot Anderson saw his shot tipped over by Costa, and the win was sealed in the 91st minute by the in-form Haaland.

After Mateo Kovacic recycled possession, he slipped in Ait-Nouri, who delivered for Haaland to pick out the bottom-right corner with a sweeping finish and get City off to a winning start in their quest for European glory. 

Haaland goes level with Aguero after coming up clutch again for Man City

Ahead of kick-off, Maresca insisted Haaland will need to sit out some matches this season in order to get the best out of him, but he was required here to help City extend their solid start to life after Pep Guardiola.

Haaland's first goal came at a crucial time, just one minute and 34 seconds after the interval, the earliest Porto have conceded in the second half of a Champions League match in four years.

It also continued his exceptional scoring streak in the competition for City. Haaland has now scored 36 Champions League goals in 40 appearances since joining the club, matching the club record set by Sergio Aguero. 

Since 2022-23, only Kylian Mbappe (38), who scored in Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Inter, has more than Haaland's 36 goals in the competition, although Maresca will also be pleased by the defensive aspect of his team's performance. 

Porto were caught offside seven times, which was more times than in their previous seven matches in major European competitions combined, while they also failed to register a shot on target from the five attempts they had. 

There was also an impressive display in midfield from Ayyoub Bouaddi. He won possession back seven times, the most by a player aged 18 or younger on his Champions League debut for a club since Antonio Silva for Benfica against Maccabi Haifa in September 2022 (nine).

City were good value for their win. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.31 from their 20 attempts, of which 10 were on target, compared to Porto's tally of 0.22. The Manchester derby is up next for Maresca.