Played in the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Jorge Jesus’s Nations League holders went in 1-0 up at the break courtesy of an impressive right-foot finish from Chelsea’s João Félix in the 17th minute after being set up by club and international teammate Pedro Neto.
Haaland went close on several occasions in the opening period as the hosts looked to restore parity before the break.
The City No.9 attempted to prod home on 24 minutes after Diogo Costa could only parry a cross into Haaland’s path but Dias was on hand to impressively block his teammate’s effort.
Haaland then triggered a fine save on 36 minutes as he met a pinpoint cross by Antonio Nusa from the left but could only watch as Costa punched clear.
There was an almost identical opportunity in first half stoppage time with Costa again denying the Norwegian hitman.
Haaland finally did get his goal on 51 minutes, Martin Ødegaard’s free-kick parried out to Patrick Berg who produced a knockdown for Haaland to finish from close-range.
It put him on 65 goals from 57 games for his country and was his 16th Norway goal in his last 17 international games.
The goal was also his 22nd in the Nations League, extending his record as the competition’s highest scorer.
The joy for the hosts didn’t last long, though, with goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland trying to pass the ball forward but only managing to find Portugal forward Gonçalo Ramos who chipped the former Aston Villa keeper on 54 minutes.
The lead was almost extended before the hour mark – first, Rafael Leão’s shot clipped the bar before Ramos put the rebound wide and second, Ramos had the ball in the net after a mix-up between Nyland and Torbjørn Heggem but Norway were relieved when VAR intervened to disallow the goal for offside in the build-up.
Former City stars Oscar Bobb and Bernardo Silva entered the action for Norway and Portugal respectively on 72 and 87 minutes respectively as the clock eventually ticked down to full-time.
The result means Portugal are top of League A Group 4 with six points from their opening two games, this win coming after an opening 1-0 triumph over Wales.
Norway are second with three points from their first couple of matches, a 3-2 win over Denmark preceding Sunday’s loss.
