Ruben Amorim jokingly claimed a win over Manchester City in his final Sporting home game would see fans label him the “next Sir Alex Ferguson”, but he might have been onto something after watching his side dismantle the Premier League champions 4-1 in Lisbon.
It could have all been so different, with City utterly dominant for so much of the first half. They took the lead after just four minutes through Phil Foden, who smashed home another goal in the Champions League after Ousmane Diomande lost the ball playing out from the back.
The goals that should have come never did though, with Erling Haaland’s miserable night starting with several near misses, including a header cleared off the line by fellow Scandinavian striking sensation, Viktor Gyokeres.
The Sporting man had missed a gilt-edged chance when one on one with Ederson shortly after Foden’s opener but made no mistake in the 38th minute to kickstart an incredible turnaround.
They almost took the lead before the break but needed mere seconds after it to make up for that, Maximiliano Araujo finishing off a move that had started from the kick off.
It was then a case of three spot kicks, two scored and one missed, that encapsulated the fortunes of the two sides, and their strikers. Gyokeres scored both of his in ruthless style, either side of Haaland seeing his bounce back off the crossbar.
The Swedish striker’s hat-trick sees him onto a frankly ridiculous 23 goals in 17 games so far this season, a tally City’s Norwegian No. 9 cannot even match.
A sobering night for City was somewhat boosted by the late return of Kevin De Bruyne, but it is now three defeats in a row in all competitions for just the third time in the Guardiola era, with the loss of Rodri and other players perhaps catching up.
City will next see Amorim on December 15th for an eagerly awaited and hyped-up Manchester Derby, but Tuesday was all about Sporting, as manager and fans waved goodbye to one another in sensational style at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
