Porto 0, Manchester City 0
Agustin Marchesin made a string of saves to secure a 0-0 draw at home for Porto against Manchester City as Gabriel Jesus had a late goal ruled out for offside.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was a real battle for City against a side who was happy to sit back and frustrate to try and, although a point suited both sides – City are topped group C with a game to spare – their profligacy in front of goal was showing again as they played out their first ever goalless draw in the Champions League group stage.
Indeed, it was City’s first 0-0 result in 92 games in all competitions since the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea in February 2019.
Porto worked hard and were indebted to a string of saves by Marchesin who saved from Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres, and Bernardo Silva while the Portuguese back line stood firm against City’s attack which had no return for their 18 shots on goal, six of which were on target, the most in a match by an away team without scoring in the Champions League this season.
City might have had a penalty in the first half but VAR didn’t intervene when Malang Sarr brought down Raheem Sterling and ruled out Gabriel Jesus’ late goal was ruled out for offside in the build-up.
City boss Pep Guardiola was pleased to have won the group with a game to spare, heaping praise on Phil Foden’s performance.
The England man created several chances which City could not convert but Guardiola remained full of praise for Foden and the team, declaring:
“What a player, his intensity, he creates things and I am delighted by his performance.
“Congratulations to the team. In many ways we were brilliant – we played to win – but we could not score.”
Only Ederson, Rodri, and Ferran Torres remained from the side that smashed Burnley 5-0 at the weekend as City boss Pep Guardiola rang the changes but put an experienced side out in Portugal.
Porto were besieged by an early City onslaught but their five man defence restricted City to scraps in the first half and protected their goalkeeper very well.
Agustin Marchesin the hero for Porto as they earn a point from a rare goalless draw against Manchester City
In a game of few free chances, City broke from a rare overcommitment by Porto which broke down – Torres was free down the middle and ran onto a square ball by Phil Foden but the Spanish winger could not lift the ball over Marchesin and the deflected ball bounced just wide of the empty net.
Sterling had a shot cleared off the line by Zaidu Sanusi as City started to belatedly turn possession into chances while Diogo Leite blocked a long range effort by Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Sergio Oliveira had Porto’s only other chance, a long range shot which was lashed high and wide.
Zinchenko’s second half free kick was easy to collect for Marchesin who also saved from Sterling after Foden had put hi through with Torres too slow to react to the rebound.
Luis Diaz, the Porto scorer from the earlier leg, replaced Jesus Corona after 63 minutes.
Somehow Porto managed to keep the ball out of the net with City wondering how they didn’t score after Sterling’s flick was hooked back away from the touchline by a stretching Ruben Dias and then swept back towards goal by Torres’ overhead kick before it was scooped to safety by Marchesin.
Gabriel Jesus replaced Torres immediately afterwards for the last 19 minutes as Porto became more courageous while continuing their spoiling tactics.
Bernardo Silva was denied by Marchesin after he fired in a low shot at the near post from an acute angle and the Argentine was there again in the last 10 minutes to deny Eric Garcia.
City thought they had made the breakthrough shortly afterwards when Jesus met Bernardo Silva’s cross with a header that Marchesin tipped onto the bar but the Brazilian was there to tap in the rebound but the joy was cruelly ruled out by VAR during the build up.
Jesus and Garcia had chances go wide in the latter stages but by the end both sides settled for the point.
MATCH STATS – Porto 0, Manchester City 0
Porto: Marchesin, Manafa (Nanu 72), Mbemba, Leite, Sarr, Sanusi, Otavio (Vieira 87), Oliveira, Uribe, Marega (Evanilson 72), Corona (Diaz 63)
Porto Subs not used: Ramos, Costa, Taremi, Nakajima, Baro, Joao Mario, Anderson, Martinez
Booked: Marega (bad foul on Fernandinho 68)
Man City: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Garcia, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Rodri, Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Torres (Jesus 71)
Man City Subs Not Used: Steffen, Carson, Walker, Stones, Are, Gundogan, Laporte, De Bruyne, Mendy, Mahrez, Doyle
Booking: Rodri 51 (elbow in the face of Moussa Marenga)
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers