HAAL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL! Haaland delivers again to help Man City secure perfect start to Champions League bid - 5 talking points

Manchester City got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Porto. Erling Haaland netted both goals in Portugal to make it five for the season, having also decided Saturday's win against Coventry.

City returned to the scene of their Champions League final defeat to Chelsea in 2021 with a new man in the dugout. Enzo Maresca didn't have easy time watching his team toil in the the pouring rain, but they earned their fourth successive win under him.

They were left frustrated in the first half, much thanks to the heroics of Diogo Costa. The Porto goalkeeper made a string of impressive saves, including two from Haaland to keep the Premier League giants at bay.

But it didn't take long for City to break through at the start of the second period - and third time was a charm for Haaland, whose header hit the post before nestling in the back of the net. It was then backs to the wall until full-time, as Porto pushed for an equaliser before City's goalscorer supreme struck again.

Here are five talking points from the Estadio do Dragao.

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Erling Haaland's daddy issues was the main talking point from Enzo Maresca's pre-match press conference on Monday. The City boss explained how Haaland, now bearing the responsibilities of being a father, will need to be rested at some point this season following a busy 2025-26 campaign which ended in a deep run at the World Cup with Norway, who made it to the quarter-finals.

With deadline-day arrival Iliman Ndiaye now at his disposal, would Maresca rotate his striker? No. The 26-year-old was named in the starting XI alongside £86million signing Ayyoub Bouaddi, who was handed his full debut in midfield next to Enzo Fernandez after a cameo against Coventry.

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With the first half meandering to a close, City were flexing their muscles and causing Porto some discomfort. Marc Guehi did that quite literally when challenging Gabri Veiga for a bouncing ball, drawing blood from the Porto star's head.

Guehi's arm wasn't outstretched but the hosts became incensed after watching replays of the incident on the touchline. Francesco Farioli suggested that the City centre-back had elbowed his midfielder.

Veiga received treatment for a good few minutes, giving VAR plenty of time to assess the collision. But nothing was given, allowing referee Szymon Marciniak to signal for the restart without going to the monitor.

But when Marciniak blew his whistle for half-time, he was greeted by deafening whistles from the home crowd. The Polish official was also swarmed by Porto players as he attempted to get down the tunnel.

Need someone to break the deadlock? Call Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian has now scored the first goal in City's last three games. This time he easily beat Jakub Kiwior in the air and headed Fernandez's cross back the way it came, leaving Costa wrong-footed.

It seemed to take an age for the ball to go in, but there was relief when it eventually did. The header marked Haaland's 58th Champions League goal - in just 59 games - taking him clear of Bayern Munich legend Thomas Muller.

After going 1-0 up, City suddenly became vulnerable and sloppiness seeped - or flooded more accurately - into their performance. Their tendency to give possession cheaply away left Maresca furious in his technical area and he made a double substitution shortly after a poor passage of play.

Rayan Cherki, twice the source of his manager's frustration, came off alongside Antoine Semenyo, who had a difficult night. Ndiaye and Elliot Anderson were their replacements as Porto smelled blood.

Although Maresca wasn't happy with his outfielders, it was his goalkeeper who nearly made two fatal mistakes. Gianluigi Donnarumma flattened Pepe in the 49th minute, and while the offside flag saved him from giving away a penalty, he was still booked for his challenge.

Shortly after the hour mark, Donnarumma misjudged a pass which was played back to him and got chased down by William Gomes as he hurriedly attempted to clear his lines. Luckily for the Italian, his blocked clearance flew back towards goal but whizzed past the post.

Porto never properly tested the City No.1 in the closing stages, getting caught offside on numerous occasions despite their pace. And when Haaland made it 2-0 with a cool finish inside the penalty area, Maresca could breathe a sigh of relief after two narrow victories in four days ahead of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford this Sunday.

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