Page 2 - Manchester City 3-1 FC Porto: 5 Talking Points

#3 Pepe creates history with the controversially conceded penalty

Porto's Pepe fouls Manchester City's Raheem Sterling to give away a penalty to the home side.

Just six minutes after the away side opened the scoring owing to a great solo run and finish by Luis Diaz, Porto conceded a penalty amidst a string of fouls in the six-yard box. In what was a controversial decision to award the Premier League club with a penalty, penalized defender Pepe created Champions League history.

With the foul on Raheem Sterling in the penalty box, Pepe conceded his fifth penalty in the Champions League which is more than any other player since data collection begun in 2003.

Just before the ex-Real Madrid centre-back collided with Sterling, City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan was seen stamping on the foot of Porto keeper Agustin Marchesin – which made a case for the penalty being referred to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). After the infamous Jordan Pickford-Virgil Van Dijk incident over the weekend, it was a tricky situation for the officials to handle.

Amidst varying opinions, the VAR confirmed the on-pitch official’s decision and Sergio Aguero made no mistake in converting from the spot – which brought back Manchester City into the game.

#2 Porto’s off-the-ball movement key to their dominance

Moussa Marega battles for possession with Rodrigo.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the score-line did not reflect the actual performance by this Porto side. After parking the bus for the few initial exchanges of the game, Porto got into their real stride, taking the game to Manchester City in exuberant fashion.

The off the ball ball movement by the visitors was simply brilliant as it disabled Manchester City to get into their usual rhythm at the Etihad. Not only out of possession, but also in possession, the Porto personnel exchanged quick one-twos which set them up on the counter.

Porto also intelligently took advantage of Kyle Walker’s high-lying role on the field by deploying the left wing-back in a left-winger role. This meant that Luis Diaz could switch into the half-space between two Manchester City centre-backs and cause havoc for the back-line. Diaz even scored a beautiful solo goal which turned out to be the only Porto goal despite many chances during the game.

#1 Individual brilliance results into goals for both Porto and Manchester City

Ferran Torres scored on his European debut for City tonight.

Despite a totally tactical battle between the two teams fielded by Pep Guardiola and Sergio Conceicao, the occasion was lit up by some brilliant individual efforts which stole the show and decided the game.

The opening goal of the night was a beautiful run and an inch-perfect finish by Porto’s Luis Diaz as he brushed past five Manchester City players to bury the ball into the bottom left corner. After Aguero’s penalty, the game was actually equally contested until Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan scored from a brilliant free-kick which curled over the wall and gave the home side the much needed lead.

The three points for Manchester City were sealed by new signing Ferran Torres as he combined with Phil Foden on the left-flank before dribbling his way towards the centre-spot and looping the ball for a perfect finish behind Agustin Marchesin.

Overall, in a game which saw both the teams silently implement their game-plans to dissect the opposition’s setup, three of the four goals were the outcome of solitary efforts by the respective stars of either side.