Sporting 4-1 Man City (November 5, 2024) Match analysis

Sporting CP marked the final home game of manager Ruben Amorim's tenure in stunning fashion as Viktor Gyokeres came from behind with a hat-trick to beat Manchester City 4-1 and maintain their excellent start to the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Portuguese league leaders were outplayed for most of the first half and should have been more behind than Phil Foden's early goal, but Gyokeres equalized before the break.

City were caught off guard at the start of the second period as Maximiliano Araujo completed a flowing move straight from kick-off before Gyokeres gave Sporting a further lead from the penalty spot a few minutes later.

Erling Haaland had the chance to drag City back into the game but hit the crossbar with a penalty before Gyokeres equalized for the hosts with another penalty, sending the Estadio Jose Alvalade crowd into raptures.

Amorim, who will take over as Manchester United manager on November 11, leaves Sporting in a fantastic position in the Champions League group stages with 10 points from four games. City's first defeat leaves them on seven points.

All eyes were on Amorim before kick-off after he accepted United's offer to take over for the sacked Erik Ten Hag.

The highly rated 39-year-old has won two Portuguese championships in four years with Sporting and they started this season's domestic championship with 10 wins from 10 games.

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However, playing against City's master tactician Pep Guardiola, he got an unpleasant taste of what to expect in the Premier League in a first half in which his side could have been blown away by an injury-ravaged City side.

Foden struck after four minutes when Sporting lost the ball in their own half and the England striker moved forward to smash his shot past Franco Israel.

Haaland, who had a poor evening, had several chances and Bernardo Silva also went close for City, while Gyokeres took a great chance shortly after Foden's opener.

But Gyokores made no mistake as he was played through by Geovany Quenda in the 38th minute and buried his shot.

City never got going in the second half and were sloppy at the back, conceding four goals in the Champions League for the first time since 2016.

Araujo was played forward by Pedro Gonçalves to score in style, then Josko Gvardiol slotted past Francisco Trincão in the box for Gyokeres to beat Éderson from the spot.

Gyokores completed City's misery with his hat-trick penalty, awarded for a foul by Matheus Nunes on Geny Catamo, to take Sporting to second place in the table.