Manchester United boss-to-be Ruben Amorim led Sporting Lisbon to a 4-1 thrashing over Manchester City at home in the UEFA Champions League, making it three losses for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Millions of Manchester United fans will have been watching this match keenly, with their manager due to leave Portugal and join on November 11th. They will have been happy watching their new boss’ team run rampant over The Red Devils’ city rivals.
It was a difficult first half for the winning side after conceding early to an emphatic Phil Foden strike.
The away side showed that they were the team with more quality until Sporting star man Victor Gyokeres scored on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-1 after shrugging off young defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Portuguese side came to life in the second half, scoring seconds after the kick-off with Maximiliano Araujo following a great bit of play down the left-hand side.
A minute later, Sporting found themselves 3-1 up after Gyokeres struck home a penalty after Josko Gvardiol brought down former Barcelona winger Francisco Trincao.
The Citizens missed their chance to get back into the match after Erling Haaland smashed a penalty into the crossbar. The penalty was a result of a controversial handball decision made after a VAR check.
And one more Gyokeres penalty put the game to bed for Sporting to extend Manchester City’s poor run of form in the last few games.
Embed from Getty ImagesSporting deserve credit for their win, but perhaps the most perplexing part of the game was how City allowed their opponents to completely take control after being comfortably the better team in the first half.
Ruben Amorim gave calm celebrations on what will have been a bittersweet night for him, playing his final Champions League game for the club. Every football fan would have been impressed by the way his side was able to beat what few can argue is one of the best teams in the world.
This win puts his team second in the Champions League table, while Man City drop to 6th.