Manchester City rely on Erling Haaland in Porto, Dortmund narrowly lose Villarreal
On Tuesday evening, Manchester City secured a deserved 2-0 win in Porto thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland, in the first match of the Champions League group stage competition. Meanwhile, Dortmund lose Villarreal 3-2 at home.
The matches are starting to look the same for Manchester City club. Three days after narrowly winning Coventry with (1-0) in the Premier League on Saturday match, thanks to Erling Haaland, the Sky Blues secured a similar win this Tuesday evening in Porto with (2-0), on the opening match day of the Champions League group stage. Except this time, the Norwegian striker scored twice during the match, first heading home a cross from Enzo Fernandez (0-1, in 47 minute), then converting a cutback from Rayan Aït-Nouri (0-2, 90+1st minute).
It’s worth noting that another Rayan, Cherki, distinguished himself in the first goal by providing the penultimate ball pass, in a match where the Frenchman proved both inspired and inconsistent. Dominant overall, thanks in particular to Ayyoub Bouaddi’s composure in the midfield, Manchester City could have opened the scoring much goal earlier, but Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa made some superb saves in (21, 29, 32 minutes). In the second half, his teammates also created several chances to equalize the goal, but Gabriel Veiga (53, 63 minutes), Alan Varela (57 minute), and William Gomes (61, 66 minutes) all missed the goal target, before Man City regained control of the game.
Guirassy sounds the alarm for Dortmund
In two distinct phases, Borussia Dortmund secured their first Champions League win against Villarreal with (3-2). After a first half with only one shot on target, the Germans took a fortunate lead thanks to a comical a own goal by Renato Veiga (53 minute, 1-0). They then sealed the win in the final minutes, thanks to a brace from Serhou Guirassy and a superb performance from Fabio Silva. The top scorer of the 2024-2025 edition first met a cross from the Portuguese player (80 minute, with 2-1) before winning and powerfully converting a penalty after a foul on a corner side on (83 minute, with 3-1)… and then scoring an own goal after his goalkeeper fumbled the ball (90+3), giving the Spanish team a lifeline that nearly led to match equalizer (90+5).
Long before this disjointed finale, Borussia Dortmund suffered greatly, and after several opportunity missed in (58, 63 minutes), Villarreal equalized from a corner through full-back Santiago Mourino in (66 minute, 1-1). The Yellow Submarine, a dismal 35 out of 36 last season competition, even came close to taking the lead, but Gregor Kobel – despite having been injured just some minutes earlier – made a superb save from Tajon Buchanan in (68 minute).
