Super Eagles defender Zaidu Sanusi made his UEFA Champions League debut for FC Porto and was on for 77 minutes as his Portuguese side lost 3-1 at Manchester City on Wednesday.
Sanusi who made his international bow for Nigeria in the just concluded FIFA window was impressive in his time on the pitch but Porto failed to capitalise on an early lead at the Etihad as Pep Guardiola’s side stormed back to open their Group C campaign with a win.
Luis Diaz gave the visitors a shock 24th minute lead but it was shortlived as Sergio Aguero restored parity for the hosts just six minutes later from the spot.
Ilkay Gueondogan and Ferran Torres then added goals in the second half to complete the turnaround for the English side.
In the other game in Group C, Ahmad Hassan Koka scored a 90th minute winner as Olympiakos beat Marseille 1-0 in Greece.
Elsewhere, midfielder Frank Onyeka was given a baptism of fire in his debut in the competition as his FC Midtjylland side were handed a chastening home defeat by Atalanta in Group D.
Onyeka lasted 87 minutes and by the time he was subbed off, the Italians were already three goals up as first half strikes from Duvan Zapata, Alejandro Gomez and Luis Muriel practically put the game out of reach for the Danish side.
Debutant Alexander Miranchuk added a late fourth to complete the rout for the Italians.
The group’s other game saw Liverpool sneak a narrow 1-0 victory over Ajax in Amsterdam courtesy of a Nicolas Tagliafico own goal.
Shaktar Donetsk stunned record 13 champions Real Madrid in Group B with the Ukrainian side running out 3-2 winners at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The visitors raced to a three goal lead at the interval as goals from Tete and Manor Solomon either side if a Raphael Varane own goal leaving the Spanish side reeling at the break.
Real tried staging a comeback in the second period through Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior and thought they’d snatched a point when Federico Velverde scored in added time but VAR intervened to hand the Ukrainians a famous victory.
Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku scored a brace as Inter Milan snatched a late draw against Borussia Moechengladbach in the other game in the group.
Lukaku put Inter ahead four minutes after the interval but the visitors struck back through Ramy Bensebaini and Jonas Hofman to come with four minutes of leaving the San Siro with a win.
But the Belgian forward popped up to score an equaliser in added time to snatch a share of the spoils for Inter.
In Group A, champions Bayern Munich got their title defence off to an excellent start as a Kingsley Coman brace and goals from Leon Goretzka and Coretin Tolisso see them thrash Spanish side Atletico Madrid at the Allianz Arena.
In the other Group A fixture, RB Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow settled for a 2-2 draw at the Red Bull Arena.
Both sides went into the interval on equal terms after Dominik Szoboszlai leveled for the home side following Eder’s opener. Zlatko Junuzovic restored the home side’s lead but Vitali Lisakovic scored fifteen minutes from time to ensure a share of the spoils for the visitors.
