Manchester City Edge Porto 2-0 as Haaland’s Second-Half Surge Overcomes First-Half Woes

Erling Haaland’s brace secured Manchester City a 2-0 victory at FC Porto, though it was yet another match where Enzo Maresca’s side triumphed without fully convincing.

The Norwegian striker was surprisingly profligate in the opening period, with two excellent opportunities inside the box saved by Diogo Costa and another promising chance headed over the bar.

Porto’s goalkeeper was in exceptional form during the first half, also making a smart save from Rayan Cherki’s effort on the rebound of one of Haaland’s shots.

However, Haaland redeemed himself just two minutes into the second half, shrugging off Jakub Kiwior to head home Enzo Fernandez’s cross from close range off the post.

Yet Manchester City eased off the pace as the Portuguese champions grew in confidence. Porto failed to register a shot on target, though Alan Varela nearly scored from the edge of the box, curling just wide of the far post in a warning shot.

Gianluigi Donnarumma was subsequently fortunate to avoid losing the ball to Porto forward William Gomes, with the goalkeeper lucky to regain possession. City did eventually seal the result though, as Haaland tucked away Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cutback deep into stoppage time.

Despite another victory this season where City won but struggled to impress, manager Enzo Maresca failed to secure an away win in any of his three away Champions League ties during his time as Chelsea boss last term. He will undoubtedly view this opening victory of the campaign as a positive result.

However, improvement will be required ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford, broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The key moments from Estadio do Dragao

16: SAVE! Antoine Semenyo starts the game brightly, curling an early effort into Diogo Costa’s gloves.

21: BIG CHANCE FOR HAALAND! Semenyo feeds Phil Foden, who clips a cross into the box for Haaland, only to be denied by a smart glove from Costa.

27: BIG MISS! Haaland heads over another good chance from a cross from the left, this time from Semenyo.

29: BIG SAVE! Foden goes on a mazy run and forces another save from Costa.

31: DOUBLE SAVE! Costa denies Haaland’s low drive from inside the box, then gets up to stop Rayan Cherki at the rebound.

42: OUCH! Marc Guehi catches Gabri Veiga with his arm, causing a lot of blood. Porto calls for a red card for a violent elbow, but the Man City defender avoids punishment as it was more accidental than malicious.

47: GOAL! Haaland takes just two minutes to rectify his wasteful first half by nodding a header in off the post from Enzo Fernandez’s cross.

49: NO PENALTY! City goalkeeper Donnarumma clatters into Porto winger Pepe in the box, but the offside flag goes up against the forward.

57: SO CLOSE! Porto midfielder Alan Varela gets a chance to shoot and curls just wide of the far post. That was Porto’s first shot of the game.

66: NERVY! Donnarumma is nearly caught in possession by Porto forward Gomes, but the ball runs behind for a goal kick.

85: JUST WIDE! City substitute Ait-Nouri has the chance to seal the result but steers a shot wide of goal from a good area.

90+1: GOAL! Haaland seals the result by slotting home Ait-Nouri’s cutback after he did well to get to the byline.

What the result means and next fixtures…

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