London (AFP)

Great favorite of Group C, Manchester City had a difficult start in the Champions League but ended up beating FC Porto (3-1) on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium.

Luis Diaz punished the Citizens in the first period (14th) before the equalizer of Sergio Aguero on a disputed penalty (20th).

After the break, the English however demonstrated their qualities thanks to Ilkay Gundogan (65th), scorer from a free kick, and the fine finish of Ferran Torres.

City take the lead of their group, ahead of Olympiakos, winner of OM 1-0.

Until the gain of advantage shortly after the hour mark, the players of Pep Guardiola however delivered a very poor performance, even mediocre, which will necessarily give ideas to the players of Olympique de Marseille, that they face off in six days at the Orange Vélodrome.

The Citizens were irrelevant in the first period, facing a double defensive curtain in 5-4-1, with veteran Pepe (37 years and 10 months) in the center.

Their game too stereotypical, deprived of the inspiration of Kevin de Bruyne, still injured, did not pose any difficulty to the organization set up by the former FC Nantes coach Sergio Conceiçao.

The Portuguese champion, who made an average start to the season, opened the scoring in the quarter-game thanks to his Colombian Luiz Diaz, who took advantage of a poor raise from Ruben Dias to bypass the entire defense from left to right and place an unstoppable cross strike (0-1, 14th).

In the meantime, City only got one scoring opportunity, the one that led to the penalty obtained by Gündogan, after a too brutal obstruction from Pepe (1-1, 20th).

Sergio Aguero scored his first Champions League goal in a year and a victory against Atalanta Bergamo (5-1, October 22, 2019).

Pep Guardiola's players showed more movement and speed from the start of the second half, but it was again on set pieces that they made the difference, thanks to a masterful free kick from Gündogan (2 -1, 65th).

Faced with a Portuguese formation that was not made to take the game on its own, the Citizens quietly unfolded (Ferran Torres, 3-1, 73rd), and turned the page of their elimination from the last Champions League by Lyon .

© 2020 AFP