Haaland has 59 Champions League goals in 59 games, and Porto did not have a shot on target

For 47 minutes at the Estádio do Dragão, Francesco Farioli’s first Champions League match as a manager was going roughly to plan. Manchester City had the ball and the chances. Diogo Costa had everything else.

Then Erling Haaland got his head to one two minutes after the restart, watched it come back off the post and cross the line, and the plan was done. He scored again in the first minute of stoppage time. Porto finished the night without a shot on target.

Costa kept it goalless for 47 minutes

Porto’s goalkeeper was the only reason the game stayed level as long as it did. He turned away a Phil Foden effort, and in the 32nd minute he produced the save of the night, blocking Haaland and then getting back up quickly enough to deny Rayan Cherki from the rebound. City went in at half-time having created plenty and scored nothing.

That lasted two minutes into the second half, when Haaland’s header came back off the post and over the line. By the time the second went in on 90+1, Porto had long since stopped threatening at the other end.

Farioli’s first night in the competition

Farioli had never taken charge of a Champions League match before this one, and he drew about the worst possible fixture for a debut. Porto’s answer was to defend deep, put bodies in the box and trust Costa. For most of the game it nearly worked.

This was Porto’s first match in the competition since 2023-24, when Arsenal knocked them out of the last 16 on penalties. Winning the Primeira Liga in 2025-26 got them back in, and Tuesday was their 28th appearance in the group stage or league phase. Only Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have played in it more often.

An elbow, and then the tunnel

The flashpoint arrived in the first half. Marc Guéhi went up for a header with Gabri Veiga and caught the Porto midfielder on the chin with his elbow, leaving him bleeding on the floor. Szymon Marciniak gave nothing at all, not even a yellow.

Porto were still furious when the half-time whistle went, and it boiled over on the walk down the tunnel, with security separating players and staff from both sides. Farioli was in no doubt afterwards. Asked whether City had been fortunate to stay at eleven men, he said: “Of course, in that moment, it is a red.” He also pointed to a Josko Gvardiol foul that stopped a Porto attack, arguing the already booked defender should have seen a second yellow for it.

Pablo Rosario’s late challenge on Haaland started the pushing again. It was that sort of evening.

Fifty-nine in fifty-nine

Haaland’s second was his 59th goal in the Champions League, in his 59th appearance. A goal a game, at the level where that is not supposed to be possible. He has moved past Thomas Müller’s 57 into seventh on the competition’s all-time list, and he is 26.

The brace also drew him level with Sergio Agüero on 36 Champions League goals for City, which is the club record. Agüero needed 64 matches to get there. Haaland has taken 40.

Enzo Maresca has his first Champions League win as City head coach. His team spent 47 minutes not scoring, lost their heads in the tunnel, and won 2-0 away from home anyway. That is what having Haaland does for you.

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