Enzo Fernández described Erling Haaland as an “animal” after the new Manchester City midfielder’s teammate scored twice on the opening night of the Champions League.
Haaland’s two second-half goals gave Man City a 2-0 win at FC Porto on Tuesday and took his tally in the competition to 59 goals in 59 matches.
It also put the Norway striker level with Sergio Agüero as City’s leading scorer in Europe‘s top competition, with 36 goals.
For his first of the night, Haaland met a cross from Fernández to convert from close range. The World Cup winner with Argentina was making his Champions League debut for City after his joint-British record transfer from Chelsea.
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“Erling Haaland is an animal, a beast,” Fernández told Amazon Prime. “Every time I’m on the pitch, I’m going to look for him and hopefully I can give him many more assists and he can score goals like that.
“It’s not just about the player he is — he’s an amazing human being as well and he has really welcomed me in [to the club].”
For his second goal, Haaland used one touch of his right foot to redirect in a pass from Rayan Aït-Nouri in second-half stoppage time.
Porto became the 22nd different team that Haaland has scored against in the competition.
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Haaland scored eight goals in 10 matches during last season’s Champions League, when City were eliminated by Real Madrid in the round of 16. Playing with a new haircut, he has three in three Premier League matches this season.
City took their time to get the breakthrough in Porto, with the Portuguese side’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa repeatedly denying Haaland in the first half.
But having also made a perfect start in the Premier League, with three wins from three games, Haaland said that new coach Enzo Maresca should have plenty to smile about.
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“I hope he is pleased,” Haaland said of Maresca to Amazon Prime. “We won away in a difficult game. Look at this atmosphere, it was unreal at times so I hope he’s happy.”
He added: “We have to learn. Enzo demands a lot from us and we have to demand a lot from each other. We have to win games because at Man City, you have to win trophies. That’s what we have to do at this club.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
