City Watch: Haaland on target as City edge past Coventry

Now that the transfer window is finally closed, we can stop worrying about who is coming in, who is leaving, and what the squad might look like, and actually crack on with the season.

We now know exactly what Enzo Maresca has to work with, and after another two victories this week, City have made a perfect start to the new campaign.

Although, if I’m being honest, the performances haven’t quite matched the results — and we’re starting with Saturday’s trip to Coventry.

It was always going to be a potential banana skin. Coventry went into the game having lost their opening two Premier League matches against Arsenal and Hull, meaning the pressure was already on them to get their first points on the board under Frank Lampard, of course a former Blue himself. City ultimately came away with a 1-0 victory thanks to Erling Haaland, but it was a pretty underwhelming afternoon.

We had plenty of chances to put the game to bed and should have scored more, but perhaps more concerning was the number of opportunities we allowed Coventry to create.

They had far too many efforts on goal for a side who had lost their first two games, and against a better team, I think we would have been punished.

There was a positive to take from the game, though, with Enzo Fernández making his Manchester City debut. The £125 million signing wasn’t originally named in the starting XI, but an injury to Nico O’Reilly meant he was thrown into the action earlier than expected.

It certainly wasn’t the easiest introduction either, with the Coventry supporters making their feelings known and greeting him with plenty of boos and jeering.

Despite the performance not being one to remember, three points are three points, and three wins from three is exactly what Maresca would have wanted from his first three Premier League games. There is plenty to improve on, but you can’t argue with a perfect start.

Then came our first Champions League game of the season on Tuesday evening, with City travelling to Porto.

The Estádio do Dragão brought back some pretty bitter memories — that 2021 Champions League Final against Chelsea is still heartbreaking to think about now, despite being five years on. This time around, we were facing a Porto side who hadn’t lost at home during 2026 and who had made Arsenal’s defence look Championship-worthy.

Unfortunately for us, there were similar cracks in our team to the Coventry game, with City again giving away far too many chances, particularly in the first half, and we were fortunate that Porto didn’t have the quality in the final third to take advantage. Against one of Europe’s elite sides, I’m not convinced we’d have got away with it.

Just like on Saturday, though, Erling Haaland once again proved why he’s so important to our team. Two second-half goals from the Norwegian bailed us out and secured a 2-0 victory, giving us the perfect start to our Champions League campaign.

Haaland has now started the season in exactly the way you’d expect from one of the best strikers in the world, and while it is brilliant to see him firing, we can’t keep relying on him to rescue us every time we give the opposition too many chances.

There were some encouraging individual performances in Porto, particularly from the new boy, Ayyoub Bouaddi. The young midfielder started the game and looked exceptionally composed, showing exactly why City were so keen to bring him to the club. There will inevitably be pressure on him because of the comparisons with Rodri, but he’s a completely different player at a completely different stage of his career. It’s incredible to see that level of performance from an 18‑year‑old, so what we’ve seen so far is extremely promising.

Fernández also looked much more comfortable after getting his first minutes under his belt, and the more time he spends with his new teammates, the more we should see what he can bring to this side.

Three games into the Premier League season, three wins, as well as one Champions League game and one win — but our performances over the past four games have been very mixed, leaving a lot more questions than answers. Thankfully, we’re about to get some.

The Manchester derby is next on Sunday, so this will be Maresca and City’s first real test of the season, and I genuinely think it will give us a much better indication of where this team might actually finish come May.

United have plenty of their own problems, but derby day is always different. Form goes out of the window, and the intensity is unlike anything we’ve seen so far this season. If Maresca has any doubters going into Sunday, this is the perfect opportunity to silence a few of them.

The Reds haven’t exactly had a great start to the season under Carrick, winning just one game from three, with a loss to Hull on opening day and a last‑minute equaliser going against them against Everton on Sunday, so this will be a chance to get them back on track too.