Football results Man City vs Porto European Cup 2020/2021

Final: Man City 3-1 Porto
Scored: Agüero (20 pens); Gundogan (65); Ferran Torres (73) – Diaz (14)

Since the first time in the official group stage of the Champions League (2011/12), Man City have attended 10 consecutive Champions League seasons. In which, in the last 7 seasons, Green Man has made it past the group stage. Obviously, the issue of class and bravery in Man City’s Champions League only begins to reveal itself from the knockout round, whereas in the group stage, Manchester’s Green Half is truly “overwhelming”.

However, while Man City just hit the Champions League 10-season mark, Porto has 24 times to appear in the most valuable club tournament on the planet, the number of just two greats, Real Madrid and Barcelona (25 times). ). In terms of experience, with 2 C1 / Champions League championships, Porto is really at a height that Man City (never won) need a long time to reach.

However, recently, Man City has much better strength and performance than Porto. Besides, being a guest in England is an obsession for Porto. Consequently, the Portuguese representative did not score a goal in the last 7 times in England in the framework of the European Cup and received up to 15 goals.

Unlike Porto, Man City have a very stable home record in the Champions League. Except for a shocking 1-3 loss to Lyon, the Green Man did not lose 8 consecutive home games. Specifically, the Green Man has resonated with results such as: 7-0 against Schalke, 6-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk (November 2018) or 2-1 against Real Madrid.

In this match, coach Guardiola has two adjustments to the starting list in the face of Arsenal’s 1-0 victory in the Premier League a few days ago. Specifically, Eric Garcia replaced Nathan Ake in the role of midfielder by kicking with rookie Ruben Dias, while in midfield Gundogan replaced the bright young face Phil Foden. Sergio Agüero continued as a starter after being out for a long time due to injury.

Due to being a guest and being underrated, Porto actively chose to play defense with the majority, building a system of multi-layered “walls” in front of the goal to protect the net at all costs.

Therefore, despite the time to control the ball and attack very actively, it is difficult for the home team Man City to get close to Marchesin’s goal. Not only that, when there is a good opportunity, Porto are ready to deploy a fast attack squad.

And then all of a sudden it erupted into the Etihad. At 14 minutes, a failed pass from Rubén Dias, Luis Díaz picked up the ball and made a quick solo, directing the ball from the left wing through the center to penetrate the penalty area. Of course, some players from the local team had to “breathe smoke” and the Colombian team finally sank diagonally, defeating Ederson.

However, Man City soon found a draw. The referee pointed to the 11-meter spot after veteran midfielder Pepe (who had been with Real Madrid for many years) fouled Sterling. Even talking to the VAR team, the decision cannot be changed. Sergio Agüero made no mistake at the 11-meter mark to bring the game back to the starting line.

In the 24th minute, it was Ederson’s turn to handle it carelessly, thus giving Uribe a chance to hit the goal in an empty state, but luckily for Man City the ball went out. In fact, until now, the defense still makes coach Pep Guardiola’s head ache when he repeatedly makes mistakes.

Despite having a goal, Man City still didn’t play much better and gradually fell to a standstill. The Porto visitors played very uncomfortable, actively pushed and competed fiercely, and were willing to make mistakes if necessary.

Therefore, until the end of the first half, the home team could not change the score on the electronic board. At the start of the second half, following a cross from Bernando Silva on the right, the ball hit the head of a Porto player and accidentally became a prop for Gundogan’s volley on his right foot, but Marchesin brilliantly blew the save. . Guest.

However, in general, the situation in the second half is not much different from the first, when Manchester City faced too many difficulties to get close to Porto’s goal. Song again, Green Man broke the deadlock thanks to a fixed situation.

In the 65th minute, the home team enjoyed a free kick from a distance of about 20 meters and the main shot with Porto. Midfielder Gundogan made a “perfect all round” shot to put the home team ahead of the table.

Not long after delivering a valuable goal for Man City, Gundogan happily left the field to make way for Foden. The young British star (born 2000), who has grown up in the club’s training center, contributed to the third table.

In the 73rd minute, from the left wing, Foden hit the ball into the 16m50 area for teammate Ferran Torres to also recently enter the field and the player who joined Man City this season managed well before dangerously kicking his foot right to hit the roof of Porto. .

At this point Pep Guardiola can be sure because 2 goals are big enough and Porto is not a strong opponent. In fact, despite running the risk of raising the squad to attack and coach Sergio Conceicao made a series of changes, the visitors did not have a really dangerous situation until the end of the game. .

So despite a bit of difficulty, teachers and students Pep Guardiola still had a resounding victory in the opening match of Group C, 2020/21 UEFA Champions League to temporarily take first place.

TEAM

CITY OF MANCHESTER (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Eric García, Joao Cancelo; Bernardo Silva, Rodri (Fernandinho 85 ‘, Stones 90’ + 4), Ilkay Gundogan (Foden 68 ‘); Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Agüero (Ferran Torres 68 ‘), Raheem Sterling.

PORTO (3-4-2-1): Agustín Marchesin; Chancel Mbemba, Pepe, Malang Sarr (Evanilson 80 ‘); Jesús Corona (Nanu 77 ‘), Sergio Oliveira, Mateus Uribe, Zaidu Sanusi (Nakajima 77’); Fabio Vieira (Taremi 77 ‘), Luis Díaz (Manafá 55’); Moussa Marega.