Porto vs Man City: 59/59 Haaland surpasses Muller to start Maresca's UCL tenure with victory

Erling Haaland scored twice in the second-half to help Manchester City beat Porto to start the Enzo Maresca tenure in the Champions League with a victory.

The Norwegian forward's brace took his tally in the Champions League to 59 goals in 59 matches, surpassing Thomas Muller (57) to become the joint 8th-top scorer in Champions League history.

Porto successfully absorbed City's early pressure and frustrated an attack that featured Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, and Antoine Semenyo. 

The first half ended scoreless, with the most notable incident being a yellow card shown to City defender Joško Gvardiol in the 36th minute.

​The game’s dynamic completely shifted immediately after the interval. Erling Haaland broke the deadlock in the 47th minute, finding a breakthrough to give Manchester City a 1-0 advantage. 

Following the goal, City made several substitutions to maintain their grip on the match, bringing on Abdukodir Khusanov for Gvardiol and later introducing Elliot Anderson and Mateo Kovačić into the midfield.

​Porto responded by sending on attacking reinforcements, including Santiago Giménez and Borja Sainz, but they struggled to carve out clear opportunities against Donnarumma, who picked up a yellow card of his own but maintained a crucial clean sheet. 

As the hosts committed numbers forward in a desperate search for an equaliser, Haaland struck again. Deep into stoppage time (90+1'), the Norwegian talisman scored his second goal of the night to put the result beyond doubt.

​For Manchester City, escaping the Estádio do Dragão with a 2-0 victory is a perfect start to the Champions League's league phase, as they still face clashes against PSG, Napoli and Barcelona. 

​For Porto, dropping points at home is a frustrating setback in a format where every result influences the final league phase standings. While they demonstrated impressive defensive organisation in the first half, they ultimately lacked the cutting edge to match City's firepower.