Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City run out 2-0 winners away at Portuguese Champions Porto. It wasn't a scintillating performance from City by any stretch of the imagination, but the Blues did enough to get their 26/27 UCL campaign off to a winning start.
City were in complete control in the first half, but it took a while before we tested Diogo Costa in the Porto goal. Haaland in particular forced Costa into a couple of excellent saves, with Rayan Cherki also testing Portugal's number one.
The Blues started strongly in the second half and took the lead in the 47th minute. Marc Guehi won the ball and played it to Phil Foden. After a direct run, Foden found Antoine Semenyo on the left hand side who played in Rayan Cherki. The Frenchman did well to keep the ball in play, finding Enzo Fernandez who crossed in for Haaland to head home.
We thought City would go on to score another, but that didn't come until injury time. Instead, Porto caused all sorts of problems, running through our midfield. Honestly, if they had a player up front who knew the offside rule we would've been in deep trouble. As often happens, the Blues took their foot off the gas after taking the lead and Porto started believing they could get something from the game.
City looked much more assured when Elliot Anderson came on. Rayan Cherki wasn't at his imperious best and our midfield, despite Bouaddi's excellent performance, looked weak. Anderson shored things up when he came on, another good performance from the City new boy.
Erling Haaland put the game to bed, though, in injury time. Good work from substitute Rayan Ait Nouri found Haaland free in the box, who passed the ball into the corner of the net.
Look, was it a great performance? No. BUT! Porto is a difficult place to go, we've just bestowed their first home defeat of the year, and had most of the ball too. Yes, there's aspects to work on, but a 2-0 win away in Europe is not to be sniffed at.
Ayyoub Bouaddi made his first start for the Blues and what a performance he put in! He's so composed on the ball, nothing fazes him whatsoever. He linked up play really well, he read the game incredibly, intercepting danger when required.
Marc Guehi had a great game too. When Porto did go forward, Guehi was there to intercept, tackle and block. Outstanding yet again from the England centre half.
Another stand out performance for me was Phil Foden. Foden is getting critics (still). He isn't quite back to his best, but he's not far away. A good performance from the Stockport Iniesta.
And, of course, Erling Haaland. Aside from his goals, his link up play was fantastic too. The absolute complete striker.
What's next for City? Derby day! City face United on Saturday, followed by their EFL Cup clash against Norwich City. The Blues then end the month with an EPL home game against Sunderland.
City v Porto Player Ratings:
Donnarumma - 5
Nunes - 5
Guehi - 8
Dias - 6
Gvardiol - 4
Bouaddi - 9
Fernandez - 6
Semenyo - 5
Cherki - 5
Haaland - 8
Foden - 7
City Subs:
Khusanov - 6
Ndiaye - 5
Kovacic - 6
Anderson - 7
Ait Nouri - 6
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