**Enzo Maresca** looked back on a 2-0 victory for **Manchester City** against **Porto**.
The _Citizens_ will want to try and get back towards the standards from the start of the decade that saw the club reach three successive semi-finals and win the **Champions League** in 2023. Since then, they have failed to get past the quarterfinals, falling to continental kings **Real Madrid** on each occasion.
· **‘We created enough chances to win the game’**
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A finish in the top eight of the league phase should give them a better chance of having an easier route to navigate, so it was key to get off to a winning start on Tuesday evening. **Erling Haaland** (twice), **Antoine Semenyo** and **Phil Foden** forced **Diogo Costa** to pull out strong saves, but the hosts struggled to generate a sustained threat of their own, registering zero shots before half time.
Their goalkeeper could not keep City’s number nine quite forever. His towering header from an **Enzo Fernandez** delivery broke the deadlock, and a late finish from a **Rayan Ait-Nouri** cutback sealed the three points. It is now four triumphs in a row for Maresca’s men since their 3-0 defeat against **Arsenal** in the **Community Shield**, and the side are showing enough quality to satisfy the manager’s demands.
_"I think we could've scored more goals, especially in the first half, but overall, I think we deserved to win the game. We created enough chances to win the game. We didn't concede a lot. It's normal to come here and concede some chances because it's normal. Overall, I'm happy with the performance._
_"I think I am lucky because all the squad is good players. For a manager, it is easy because you can give minutes to all of them, and tonight I think the guys that were inside were very good."_
· **‘Ayyoub was very good’**
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There was also particular praise from Maresca for the club’s **Champions League** debutant. Bouaddi excelled in his tournament debut for **Lille** as his team defeated **Real Madrid** 1-0 in October 2024 on his 17th birthday, and he laid down a solid marker with his showing for the _Citizens_ in Portugal.
_"The good thing is that from_ **_Erling Haaland_**_,_ **_Ruben Dias_**_,_ **_Mateo Kovacic_** _you expect how to manage this game, but he was never in panic,_ **_Ayyoub Bouaddi_**_. He was very good, and I think the performance was unbelievable."_