In Rúben Amorim’s final home game for Sporting CP, his side thumped Manchester City to a shock 4-1 win at the Estádio José Alvalade.
The visitors took the lead early on, with Phil Foden firing home past some suspect goalkeeping from Franco Israel.
From then on, though, this was Sporting’s night. Viktor Gyökeres equalised at the end of the first half, and the start of the second saw two more goals for the hosts courtesy of Maximiliano Araújo and the Swedish striker once more.
Things would go from the sublime to the ridiculous as the second half ran on, with Erling Haaland crashing a contentious penalty onto the bar before Gyökeres put the cherry on top of an incredible victory with a spot kick of his own.
As it happened
In a week dominated by news of Rúben Amorim and Manchester United, it’s rather fitting that his final game at the Estádio José Alvalade would be against his soon-to-be crosstown rivals. They’re a club he’s struggled against in the past, too; in two meetings, he’s failed to defeat them. In their last at this ground, Manchester City won 5-0.
But this is a different Sporting side. This is a side which hadn’t lost at home since October 2023, and one which hadn’t lost in all competitions since losing the Portuguese Super Cup all the way back in August. Facing the reigning English champions may have been a daunting introduction to life against Amorim, but for his team, this was just another test at their fortress.
It didn’t quite start the way they’d hoped, though. Only four minutes in, Phil Foden created the visitors’ first big chance by catching Hidemasa Morita in midfield and driving towards the box. Once he had enough room, he fired a hard but decidedly central shot towards goalkeeper Franco Israel, who misjudged it entirely. He leapt to his right, the ball grazing his outstretched leg on its way into the net.
Embed from Getty ImagesCity led at a stadium where that has been all-but impossible over the last 12 months, and Sporting let them know immediately that they weren’t going to have things all their own way.
There are few players in Europe in better form than Viktor Gyökeres right now. Before today, the Swede had scored 21 goals in only 16 appearances at club level this season, and four minutes after his side went behind, he very nearly had one more.
Rico Lewis was caught in possession in the Sporting half and Manchester City’s line was incredibly high. One ball later, Gyökeres had the entire half to run into and only Ederson to beat – and he fluffed his lines, trying to chip the ball over an upright City keeper. One thing was certain about this striker though: he would get another chance.
But before that could happen, Manchester City took control of possession. In the first half, they’d keep 74% of the ball, but try as they might, a second goal would not come.
Their own big Scandinavian striker Erling Haaland had four big chances to score, denied twice by Israel, once by his own poor technique on the half-volley and once more, perhaps most miraculously, with a looping header cleared off the line by his opposite number Gyökeres.
He really can do it at both ends of the pitch. Manchester City had all the ball, but Sporting’s striker was eager to make his mark – and on 38 minutes, he did.
It was almost identical to his earlier spurned chance. Geovany Quenda spotted him on the move, and one ball exploited City’s high line. The man tasked with stopping him was Jahmai Simpson-Pusey on his Champions League debut. He tried valiantly to slow him down, but there was only ever going to be one winner.
Once Gyökeres was close enough to lock eyes with Ederson, he was never going to make the same mistake twice. His finish was fantastic, bounced into the ground and over Brazilian’s leg. Sporting were level against the run of play, but very much in line with their season.
Embed from Getty ImagesCome the second half, Sporting were still confident after their equaliser, but Manchester City had had all the ball. They’re also a side who rarely panic after conceding, so there was every expectation they’d keep taking the game to the hosts. So, what happened next was something of a shock.
21 seconds into the half, the ball was in the back of the net for the third time of the game, and it was City’s net. Sporting worked the ball tremendously down their left-hand side, and once the ball found the feet of Pedro Gonçalves, he was able to look up and spot Maximiliano Araújo darting into the box. One ball was all that was needed to set him up one-on-one; one other was all he needed to slip it past Ederson and put the hosts in front for the first time on the night.
If you could’ve written the script for Amorim’s leaving party, it would’ve gone something like this: winning against the side whom he will soon be considering his bitter rivals. His celebration wasn’t about to stop anytime soon, either.
City were shellshocked. Only a minute after the goal, Sporting were in again, with Francisco Trincão in behind Joško Gvardiol. The Croatian international panicked, gave him a nudge, and could only hope Daniel Siebert’s whistle wouldn’t sound. But it did, and the hosts had a penalty and a chance for three.
Up stepped Gyökeres, hunger in his eyes, to blast the spot kick into the far-right corner. Ederson guessed wrong, and Sporting were two up out of nowhere.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt took them to fall almost out of the contest before Manchester City finally settled into the second half. They would dominate the next 20 minutes, but having the ball and creating clear-cut chances were two different things altogether. They needed one break, one moment of luck – and on 65 minutes, they got it.
Bernardo Silva had wriggled just enough room for a shot, and it crashed the outstretched arm of Ousmane Diomande from very close range. It took two minutes of VAR intervention and a trip to the monitor for referee Siebert to award the controversial penalty, but Manchester City had been given a lifeline nonetheless.
This was going to be Erling Haaland’s best chance to get his name on the scoresheet. Staring down the barrel of a reduced deficit, he proceeded to blast his penalty onto the crossbar. It was at this point that it was clear that this was, categorically, going to be one of those days for Manchester City – it will be a worry for them that that’s been the case for each of their last three games.
Then, to add insult to injury, Sporting got themselves another penalty.
City were the architects of their own downfall once again, failing to clear the ball after a corner. Matheus Nunes – given a golden chance to put his foot through it – chose to try and dribble the ball out of danger and got it horribly wrong, having his pocket picked by substitute Geny Catamo. The Sporting man darted into the box and Nunes tried to recover with a mistimed tackle. It was a clearer penalty than either of the previous two.
Given a chance to score a hat-trick against the English champions, a striker of Gyökeres’ quality wouldn’t need to be asked twice. He went left this time, with the ball hit too hard and too low for Ederson to reach it.
Embed from Getty ImagesThat would be all she wrote. The return of Kevin De Bruyne and a typically strong performance from Rico Lewis couldn’t paper over the cracks of one of Manchester City’s worst halves of football in recent history. Two rapid goals ended their evening with 43 minutes left to play, resigning them to a third defeat on the spin; it has been quite the disastrous week for Pep Guardiola and co.
But for the man in the opposing dugout, this couldn’t have gone any better. Amorim’s final home game ended with a huge win against the side which only 18 months ago lifted the Champions League trophy itself.
In less than a week, he’ll be Manchester United manager. On this evidence, he may well be quite popular in the red half of his new city.
The lineups
SPO: Israel; Reis, Diomande, Debast; Araújo, Hjulmand, Morita, Quenda; Gonçalves, Trincão; Gkyökeres
MCI: Ederson; Gvardiol, Simpson-Pusey, Akanji, Lewis; Kovačić, Nunes, Bernardo, Foden, Savinho; Haaland
