Porto 0-2 Manchester City Haaland Surpasses Muller As Maresca Begins UCL Campaign With Victory

Porto 0-2 Manchester City Haaland Surpasses Muller As Maresca Begins UCL Campaign With Victory Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City defeated FC Porto 2-0 at the Estádio do Dragão, giving new manager Enzo Maresca a winning start to his Champions League campaign while the Norwegian striker continued to rewrite the competition’s record books. Haaland broke the deadlock shortly after half-time before adding a second goal in stoppage time to secure all three points for the visitors. The victory continues Manchester City’s impressive start under Maresca, who has now overseen four wins from four matches across the Premier League and Champions League since taking charge. The first half was closely contested, with Porto successfully frustrating City’s attacking players, including Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo. The hosts remained organised defensively and prevented the visitors from finding the breakthrough before the interval. City eventually broke the deadlock in the 47th minute. Enzo Fernández delivered a dangerous cross into the area, and Haaland rose to head the ball beyond Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa. Porto attempted to respond and introduced additional attacking players as they searched for an equaliser. However, City’s defence held firm, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma helping the visitors preserve their advantage. As Porto pushed forward in the closing stages, City found space on the counter. Haaland completed his brace in the first minute of stoppage time, calmly finishing after a pass from Rayan Aït-Nouri to seal a 2-0 victory. The two goals took Haaland’s Champions League tally to 59 goals in 59 appearances, an extraordinary scoring ratio that has seen him move ahead of Thomas Müller in the competition’s all-time scoring standings. Haaland is now seventh on the Champions League all-time scoring list, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappé and Raúl González. The Norwegian has also scored 36 Champions League goals for Manchester City, drawing level with club legend Sergio Agüero as the club’s joint-leading scorer in the competition. For Maresca, the victory represents another positive step in his early tenure. City have now made a winning start to their latest Champions League campaign while maintaining their perfect record under their new head coach. Porto, meanwhile, will be disappointed after holding City goalless for the opening 45 minutes but ultimately being unable to contain Haaland after the restart. Manchester City will now turn their attention to the remainder of the Champions League league phase, with difficult fixtures against sides including Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Barcelona still ahead.