Haaland scores twice as Maresca enjoys Middlesbrough debut in Porto

The sight of a goalkeeper who has done everything right to help his side avoid the worst, only to see his efforts fall short, is rarely a pretty one to behold

But Diogo Costa knows all too well after Tuesday night’s exertions

Manchester City left the Estádio do Dragão with a 2-0 win over Porto thanks to two Erling Haaland goals, but it was not always plain sailing for Maresca’s men.

Costa was called upon more than once in the first hour to keep Porto in the game – and in his opinion, the hosts would have been out of it long before half-time if not for his intervention.

City may have had the lion’s share of the ball, which is usually a good indicator of who is likely to score, but Porto were far from being passive as Manchester City looked to take advantage of their home advantage.

Antoine Semenyo tested the Portugal international early on in the 16th minute, but his effort was comfortably saved by Costa.

The pattern was set for the rest of the first half as Manchester City grew into the game.

Phil Foden nearly put City ahead in the 21st when he sent up a cross which struck Haaland’s head but was excellently gathered by the Porto keeper.

Eight minutes later, Foden was at the heart of another City attack when he saw his low shot blocked by Costa.

The tie’s most impressive save came with 32 minutes played when the Portuguese keeper denied Haaland, before quickly recovering to block the follow-up from Rayan Cherki, who had received the ball on the volley.

Despite Porto’s resilience, City finally broke the deadlock just after the hour mark.

Cherki kept possession of the ball down the byline before playing in Enzo Fernández, who laid the ball off for Haaland.

The City striker’s header struck the post and bounced in off the woodwork, but it was still a goal for the visitors.

It was an unfortunate end to a decent performance from Costa, who had been outstanding in keeping Porto in the game for so long.

However, Porto were not done yet, and almost equalised straight from the kick-off.

Alan Varela’s curling shot narrowly missed the target, and City were also nearly caught out when Gianluigi Donnarumma’s pass was inadvertently deflected behind by William Gomes.

Jakub Kiwior had to clear the danger from the counter-attack when he blocked Iliman Ndiaye’s shot, before Rayan Aïtnouri saw his low shot just missed the near post as City looked to kill off the game.

Their persistence was rewarded with four minutes of added time when Aïtnouri once again reached the byline before sending the ball back across the box.

Haaland, as ever, was first to meet it and calmly fired the ball past Costa to score his second goal of the night.

Two goals from the man in white, a winning start to the group stage, and a reminder to Enzo Maresca that while there may be doubts over his defenders, his forwards will always know where the net is.