Here’s Jamie Jackson’s report from a drizzly Dragão, where Manchester City were tested by Porto but got the job done. Thanks for joining me. Bye!
Related: Haaland double gives Manchester City ideal Champions League start in Porto
Now time to hear from the other Enzo … Maresca. “I think we could have scored more goals but we deserved to win the game … it’s normal here to be under pressure, to feel the atmosphere. They are going to create something … I don’t think they created much, there were some mistakes from us.”
He praises the impact of his subs and says every player wants to get minutes, which is something he has to consider. He also praises Bouaddi – “he was never in a panic, he was very good. His performance was unbelievable” – and says the Manchester derby on Sunday is “probably” be his biggest test so far.
Enzo Fernandez speaks to Alex Aljoe, who is asking questions in Spanish and translating his answers. “I’m so happy, City fans have been brilliant and the team are great players and amazing human beings … Erling Haaland is an animal, and I want to help create goals for him. Enzo Maresca did all he could to make this happen, and he’s going to give 100% in training and on the pitch.”
Some post-game thoughts from Erling Haaland: “Amazing game, against the champions of Portugal – they are impressive, all of them. We created a lot of chances, but in the second half, they pushed us for 25 minutes. In the Champions League, you have to win games.
He adds that Ayyoub Bouaddi “has been amazing in training, looked good tonight, but he should have played me in!” Will Enzo Maresca be pleased? “I hope so. We won a difficult game away, in an unreal atmosphere. We have to deliver on the biggest stage and we did that tonight.”
Elsewhere … It finished Dortmund 3-2 Villarreal, Real Madrid 2-1 Inter, Lille 2-3 Real Betis. Catch up with all of that, plus the Carabao Cup, over here.
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I’d wager that Haaland will get the player of the match bauble for the two goals; Fernandez, Bouaddi and Guehi also looked good, Foden impressed in flashes, and Ndiaye looked dangerous when he came on.
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Full time: Porto 0-2 Manchester City
Did Manchester City play particularly well? No. Did they get the job done? Yes. Did this feel a bit like a Carabao Cup tie, City labouring past limited opposition? Also yes. Still, two second-half Erling Haaland goals mean they are up and running.
94 mins: Fernandez takes the free kick and whistles his effort past Costa’s post. The hosts look out of gas and Fernandez gets another chance, which Costa tips wide, before Guehi heads over the bar from a corner.
93 mins: Still time for another flashpoint, with Rosario and Haaland tussling on the floor after the latter wins a City free-kick. Both players are booked and Haaland is furious, strutting and pouting like a WWE heel.
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GOAL! Porto 0-2 Manchester City (Haaland 91')
The corner is cleared but City keep the ball and Ait-Nouri bursts to the byline. His cut-back is perfect for Haaland, who strokes the ball into the far corner. That’ll do it!
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89 mins: Anderson curls an effort towards the far post – it’s never beating Costa, but the keeper has to palm it behind, to be on the safe side.
88 mins: The next round of Champions League fixtures don’t take place until 13/14 October, so three early points would be very welcome.
86 mins: Fernandez draws a foul from Rosario, and Farioli is booked for his protests. The free kick is whipped across goal, with Ruben Dias getting a touch but sending the ball over the bar.
84 mins: Fofana gets free down the left and his cross is deflected behind … from the corner, City break at spped and Ait-Nouri thumps an effort just wide from the edge of the area. End-to-end stuff now …
82 mins: Ndiaye lifts in a high cross that Haaland reaches by springing off the ground, Inspector Gadget style – but he can’t keep his header down.
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81 mins: Seko Fofana comes on for Porto, replacing Gabi Veiga.
80 mins: Another decent crossing opportunity for Porto, but the ball floats into Donnarumma’s gloves. I think City have switched to a 3-4-2-1 shape, with Ait-Nouri and Nunes the wing backs.
78 mins: Borja Sainz finds space in behind down the left, but there’s the trusty flag. Maresca certainly has his back line well-trained; Porto have been caught offside roughly 295 times.
77 mins: Haaland almost turns provider with a prodded pass to Ait-Nouri, whose shot is deflected behind. The corner results in a free-kick to Porto, City penalised for excessive jostling.
76 mins: Gimenez whips in a dangerous cross towards Pepe, who is unmarked and tries a spectacular effort, only to miskick it horribly.
75 mins: Two more changes for City, with Kovacic and Ait-Nouri replacing Foden and Bouaddi. Maresca not quite shutting up shop, but at least bringing the special offer signs inside.
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74 mins: Foden finds Ndiaye again with another raking pass out wide, and the winger dances around his marker … but the flag is up.
73 mins: Two more Porto changes: the largely ineffective Andre Silva is replaced by Santiago Gimenez, and left-back Martim Fernandes makes way for Francisco Moura.
72 mins: City enjoy a spell of possession before Bouaddi hooks a pass out to Ndiaye on the left. He floats a cross in, but the whistle goes for a foul on Kiwior.
70 mins: The flag goes up again to stall another Porto attack, although Andre Silva was only marginally offside, if at all.
68 mins: Anderson finds a pocket of space and rolls the ball into Foden’s path – Kiwior makes an excellent block to stop the shot from testing Costa.
67 mins: Gomes and Varela are withdrawn, with former Norwich favourite Borja Sainz and Inbeom Hwang coming on.
66 mins: Yikes! Donnarumma isn’t having a vintage half here, and his clearance rebounds off William Gomes before trickling wide of the post. That could have gone anywhere.
65 mins: Phil Foden, who has looked better as the game has gone on, sprays a pass out wide to Ndiaye, who has time to pick his spot but sends his shot too close to Diogo Costa.
64 mins: Haaland’s opening goal has been followed by 15 minutes of Porto pressure; City need to regain some midfield control.
63 mins: Veiga rushes his effort from just inside the area, sending it spinning well wide of the far post.
62 mins: Cherki and Semenyo are heading off, with Elliot Anderson and Iliman Ndiaye coming on. Enzo Fernandez will push forward, presumably.
61 mins: William Gomes cuts inside onto his left foot, but sends his shot into the side netting.
60 mins: City break but Semenyo is isolated, and his eventual through ball is too far ahead of Haaland. Maresca looks concerned, and I think some changes are imminent.
58 mins: Porto appeal for a penalty for a City challenge on the edge of the area – there wasn’t much in it, and the better option was to shift the ball right rather than to try and win a cheap pen.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid lead Inter 2-0 at the Bernabéu and it’s Lille 2-3 Betis …
Related: Real Madrid v Inter, Millwall v Newcastle: Champions League and Carabao Cup – live
56 mins: Oooof! Porto collect the ball from a half-cleared cross and Varela’s effort looks to be nestling in the back of the net – but it actually went wide and ricocheted off the stanchion behind the goal. Donnarumma may not have got there …
55 mins: Cherki has lost possession a couple of times upfield, putting unnecessary pressure on the defenders behind him.
54 mins: Donnarumma was booked after the incident with Pepe, which was presumably for dissent.
53 mins: From the corner, Alberto Costa gets a free header and nods the ball across goal – but nobody in blue and white can get the killer touch.
52 mins: Guehi gets a toe in to keep Pepe from running through on goal, but concedes a corner …
50 mins: City made a change straight after scoring, with the booked Gvardiol replaced by Khushanov, who usually plays at centre- or right-back but will fill in at left-back here.
48 mins: Porto push forward in response and Pepe gets his head to the ball before Donnarumma, who cleans him out as he rushes forward. Porto appeal at length for a penalty, but Pepe was offside when the cross came in – which is lucky for Donnarumma.
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GOAL! Porto 0-1 Manchester City (Haaland 46')
And that’s what happens when you make them angry. Cherki cleverly flicks the ball away from Costa on the byline and finds Fernandez, whose cross is headed in off the post by Erling Haaland.
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According to Gabriel Clarke, there was a heated confrontation in the tunnel at half-time, with plenty of pushing and shoving before security stepped in.
Second half
Here we go again. Can City find their cutting edge, and/or will Porto offer more attacking threat? Let’s find out.
Porto players and coaches surround the referee, Szymon Marciniak, protesting the decision not to show Guehi a red card. I think once the decision was made on-field, there’s not enough there for VAR to overturn it – it wasn’t clearly deliberate or malicious.
Half time: Porto 0-0 Manchester City
Not a classic, but City have created enough chances to be a couple of goals ahead, despite getting nowhere near their fluent best.
47 mins: Andre Silva goes over in front of Gvardiol, hoping to elicit a second yellow card, but the referee isn’t buying it.
46 mins: William Gomes looks to bend his shot inside the far post, but misses by a few feet – and the offside flag is up, regardless.
45 mins: Veiga comes back on, and there’ll be three minutes of injury time.
43 mins: Veiga will need to wait for a minute to come back on, in what seems an unsatisfactory attempt at a concussion protocol. There’s some shoving and pointing between both sets of players, which the referee quickly cools down.
41 mins: A nasty collision in midfield as Guehi competes for a high ball with Veiga, who stays down with a cut to his head. Farioli claims that Guehi led with his elbow; looking at the replay, it doesn’t look that way to me.
40 mins: Gvardiol carries it forward, finds Semenyo and keeps chugging into the area. Semenyo switches the ball wide right to Foden, but left-back Fernandes shepherds him off the ball.
39 mins: The home fans are raising the volume, but their team are yet to really threaten City inside the final third.
38 mins: Veiga knocks the ball past Guehi and then barrels straight into him, looking for a foul. The referee is unmoved.
36 mins: Yellow card! Gvardiol is again ruffled by William Gomes and brings the winger down. There’s a spot of afters, both players pointing the finger, but Gvardiol is justifiably booked.
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34 mins: Bouaddi is fouled by Veiga to end an unconvincing foray forward from the hosts.
32 mins: Diogo Costa has made five saves already, and is keeping Porto on terms. That City move was triggered by a lovely Bouaddi pass forward; he has looked very assured so far.
30 mins: Another City chance! Not sure how the visitors didn’t score here, as Nunes’ low cross finds Haaland, whose shot finds Costa with the goal gaping. The rebound falls to Cherki, whose rasping effort is also repelled – and Semenyo then takes a heavy touch, much to his teammates’ chagrin.
28 mins: Another half-chance for City as Foden aims for the far corner, but sees his low shot beaten away by Costa.
27 mins: Porto are allowing Semenyo too much space on the left, and his whipped cross finds Haaland, who heads a tricky chance just over the bar.
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25 mins: Porto almost trip the City offside trap with a lofted ball towards Andre Silva, but he goes a fraction early and the flag is raised.
24 mins: Another slow-burning City passing move is ended by a foul, this time from Haaland, who leans on his marker too heavily.
23 mins: Nice work from Enzo Fernandez, taking the ball cleanly from winger Pepe as Porto threatened to break.
21 mins: City are penalised for a foul at the corner. You’d have backed Haaland to score with that chance, but his header was a touch too central.
20 mins: Chance! Erling Haaland makes his first contribution, meeting Foden’s cross and powering a header on goal that Costa turns behind. City corner …
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18 mins: Bouaddi, who has looked pretty comfortable so far, chips a pass out to Semenyo, who lets the ball skid out of play.
17 mins: Porto advance into the City half but Silva and Gomes mess up an attempted one-two on the edge of the area.
15 mins: Semenyo cuts in from the left and curls an effort on goal, but it’s comfortable for Costa.
14 mins: Veiga gets in down the left and goes for the near post; Donnarumma sticks a leg out to deflect it behind, but the flag is up anyway.
13 mins: Foden looks to whip a low cross in from the right, but Fernandes gets a challenge in and the ball deflects back to Diogo Costa.
11 mins: City enjoying a little more possession now, with Bouaddi and Foden threading some neat passes together.
9 mins: Guehi carries the ball out of defence and City work it to Cherki, who is shrugged off the ball by Varela. No free-kick, but Porto pass up the chance to break away.
7 mins: Porto’s front three are pressing high and causing City problems, with Gvardiol almost taken off the ball by William Gomes.
6 mins: A tentative Manchester City move forward ends when Haaland pushes his marker down.
4 mins: Porto are missing their key midfield man, Victor Froholdt, tonight. He was knocked unconscious in a grisly clash of heads during their game against Moreirense on Friday, and spent the night in hospital. He is recovering but understandably not available tonight.
2 minutes: Porto bring the ball forward but right-back Alberto Costa is penalised for hauling Gvardiol down. It’s raining hard, and the pitch looks slippery.
Kick-off
Here we go, then. Porto are in their usual blue and white stripes; City are wearing their black and gold, bee inspired away kit.
Before kick-off, a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the victims of the recent flash floods in Nepal, which is impeccably observed.
Five minutes until kick-off, and the Estádio do Dragão feels suitably cauldronesque. It feels like there could be goals in this one – you can quote me on that later.
Jamie Jackson has noticed something strange on Uefa’s official team sheet …
It’s also finished AEK Athens 1-0 LASK Linz in the battle of the acronyms* – you can follow all the other Champions League and Carabao Cup action with Daniel Harris.
*I know they may technically not be acronyms; please don’t write in
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FT: Club Brugge 2-3 Aston Villa They were pushed all the way, but Villa begin their campaign with a very useful three points. Rob Smyth has the latest …
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Head to head: Porto have played Manchester City four times in Europe, and are yet to beat them. In the 2020-21 Champions League, City won 3-1 at home and drew 0-0 away in the group stage – before going on to lose the final to Chelsea in this very stadium.
The two sides also met in the 2011-12 Europa League knockouts, with City winning 6-1 on aggregate, before getting bundled out by Sporting in the next round.
Over in Bruges, Aston Villa are holding on to a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes to go. Follow that one with Rob Smyth …
Related: Club Brugge v Aston Villa: Champions League – live
Maresca has apparently introduced music to training sessions – Gabby Logan pushes him on the genre, and he says: “house music – I like house music, you know, boom-boom-boom.” Italo-house, perchance?
Enzo Maresca chats to Amazon Prime before the match: “It’s a hard place to come, but we’re going to try our best … it’s the first game, it’s going to be a long run. We’ll see where we are in December and January.”
He’s asked about the pressure of following Pep Guardiola, but brushes it off. “I’m trying to do what I did at Leicester, at Chelsea, it’s nothing different.” On summer signings, he adds: “We have quality players, that means service for Erling [Haaland], movement between the lines.”
Team news
Porto (4-3-3): Diogo Costa (c); Alberto Costa, Perez, Kiwior, Fernandes; Rosario, Varela, Veiga; William, Andre Silva, Pepe.
Subs: Claudio Ramos, Joao Costa, Hwang, Sainz, Gimenez, Souza, Fofana, Silva, Moura, Teixeira, Cunha, Luis Gomes.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias (c), Guehi, Gvardiol; Bouaddi, Fernandez; Semenyo, Cherki, Foden; Haaland.
Subs: Bettinelli, Rulli, Anderson, Kovacic, Ndiaye, Ait Nouri, Vitor Reis, Allan, Khusanov, McAidoo, Lewis.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Pre-match reading from our man in Porto, Jamie Jackson.
Related: Maresca eyes rest for busy dad Haaland as Manchester City prepare for Porto
Preamble
Manchester City’s Enzo Maresca era has got off to a decent start, with three wins from three in the Premier League. The Champions League will offer a sterner test than their domestic opposition so far, with PSG, Barcelona, Napoli and plenty more top-tier teams dropping into their autumn fixture list.
First up, though, is a September trip to Porto – nice for the fans, not so much for the City players. Also managed by a tactically cautious Italian in Francesco Farioli, the Portuguese champions also boast a 100% league record this season. With the Manchester derby up next, the hard work starts here for Maresca and his new-look City side.
Kick-off is 8pm (BST).
