Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca launched a defence of Gianluigi Donnarumma after the goalkeeper's shaky moments in possession against Porto.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has been under the spotlight for his shaky moments on the ball.
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City maintained their perfect start to the Maresca era with a fourth win in as many games this season in all competitions in Portugal on Tuesday night.
A brace from Erling Haaland helped the Blues begin their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League league phase campaign with a 2-0 win as the Norwegian climbed to third place in Manchester City's all-time goalscoring list in the process.
Manchester City are at a nascent stage of their transition under Maresca, who witnessed a comprehensive remake of the dressing room he inherited from Pep Guardiola upon the latter's departure from the Etihad Stadium in May.
City sporting director Hugo Viana proved his credentials in a challenging market, giving Maresca the ammunition to challenge for major trophies courtesy of the acquisitions of Elliot Anderson. Geronimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan Elias, Iliman Ndiaye and Enzo Fernandez.
Manchester City got off the mark in their first European venture of the campaign as an Erling Haaland brace headlined a hard fought away win over Porto.
cityxtra.co.uk Five Things Learned: Porto 0-2 Man City (UEFA Champions League) Manchester City got off the mark in their first European venture of the campaign as an Erling Haaland brace headlined a hard fought away win over Porto.
The Blues are starting to purr and have well and truly turned the ship around after August's 3-0 Community Shield loss to Arsenal, who seek to retain the Premier League title after narrowly pipping Guardiola's side to their first crown in 22 years in May.
Sometimes We Go Back to Gigio Too Many Times, Says Maresca
City were not particularly troubled in defence in the first-half of Tuesday's clash but Donnarumma did have his fair share of nervy moments in possession.
The 27-year-old almost conceded an own goal in the opening minutes of City's 1-0 Premier League win over Coventry City last week - and it is no secret that Donnarumma is no match to Ederson with the ball at his feet.
However, City have paid a heavy price for going back to the Italy captain since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain last summer, with Kai Havertz making the most of Donnarumma's relative discomfort in possession when he tackled the ball into the net by pressing the City goalkeeper and restoring parity when Arsenal visited the Etihad Stadium in April.
Manchester City kickstarted their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League campaign in style with a resilient and commanding 0-2 win on the road at FC Porto on matchweek one.
cityxtra.co.uk Match Report & Player Ratings: FC Porto 0-2 Man City (UEFA Champions League) Manchester City kickstarted their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League campaign in style with a resilient and commanding 0-2 win on the road at FC Porto on matchweek one.
Speaking in his post-match press conference about Donnarumma, Maresca said: "Donnarumma was top against Coventry, some important saves. Again, I think a few times tonight it's not Gigio's mistake, it's more the wrong decisions to go back to Gigio.
"Sometimes we go too many times back to Gigio when we don't need. I always said we need to go to the keeper when we don't have different options. But when we have more options, we don't need to go to Gigio.
"And against Coventry, the mistake we almost conceded is the wrong decision from [Abdukodir] Khusa to play with Gigio. So I'm very happy with Gigio."
How has Donnarumma fared since joining Man City from PSG?
Donnarumma has been a regular starter since he day he walked into the City Football Academy, displacing fellow 2025 summer signing James Trafford from the lineup straight away and never looking back since.
Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma discusses his love for the fans and his secret charitable donations to City in the Community.cityxtra.co.uk"Massive" - Gianluigi Donnarumma opens up on instant bond with Manchester City fans
Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma discusses his love for the fans and his secret charitable donations to City in the Community.
The AC Milan academy graduate is arguably one of the best in his position in terms of keeping the ball out of the net but it remains to be seen whether he can fulfil the inevitable on-ball demands put on him in a side that dominate possession like Manchester City - now that he's working under Maresca.
Under Guardiola, Donnarumma was far from a Rolls Royce figure between the sticks but despite the odd hiccup, the Italian showed that the upside of having his safe hands in net heavily outweighed the risk City ran in involving him in build-up.
Having joined forces with his compatriot Maresca, Donnarumma has been chosen as part of City's four-player leadership group alongside skipper Ruben Dias, vice-captain Erling Haaland and Marc Guehi.