Manchester City endured a humiliating 1-4 loss to hosts Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening in the fourth round of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Sporting’s striker, Viktor Gyökeres, delivered an outstanding performance, scoring a hat-trick (38th minute, 49th minute from a penalty, and 80th minute from another penalty). His teammate Maximiliano Araújo added a goal in the 46th minute. City’s sole goal came early in the match, with Phil Foden finding the net in the 4th minute.
The victory propelled Sporting, who played their last match in the competition under the guidance of new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, into second place temporarily with 10 points. Meanwhile, Manchester City’s points remained frozen at 7, leaving them in sixth place temporarily.
Manchester City opened the scoring early in the 4th minute when Phil Foden intercepted a poor pass from Morita, then advanced with the ball and fired a shot that deflected off the defense, deceiving the goalkeeper and finding the back of the net.
Sporting quickly responded in the 8th minute when Viktor Gyökeres broke free in a one-on-one with City goalkeeper Ederson. However, he misfired his shot, and the ball ended up safely in the goalkeeper’s hands.
Manchester City nearly doubled their lead in the 9th minute, when the ball came to Erling Haaland on the right side of Sporting’s penalty area. Haaland shrugged off defender Reyes before taking a shot, but Sporting’s goalkeeper made a brilliant save to deny him.
In the 15th minute, City’s Matheus Nunes embarked on a brilliant solo run down the left before crossing the ball to Haaland, who struck first time but sent the shot wide of the target.
Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres saved his team from conceding in the 28th minute, when Foden took a corner that found Haaland at the far post. Haaland met it with a header, but Gyökeres cleared the ball off the line with a header of his own.
Haaland squandered another chance to extend City’s lead in the 31st minute when the ball fell to him for a low shot, but the Sporting goalkeeper flew across goal to make the save.
In the 36th minute, Foden played a ball to his teammate Bernardo Silva, who took a shot from the edge of the box. However, the shot sailed wide of the target.
Sporting leveled the score in the 38th minute, when Quinda made a clever pass to Gyökeres, who raced forward despite pressure from City’s Manuel Akanji. Gyökeres then chipped the ball over goalkeeper Ederson, sending it into the net.
Just three minutes before halftime, Foden tried his luck from outside the box with a powerful shot, but Sporting’s goalkeeper made another excellent save to keep the score level.
Sporting Lisbon came out strong in the second half, taking the lead in the 46th minute when Maximiliano Araújo received a pass from Gonçalo Inácio and fired a shot past Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson.
The Portuguese side quickly extended their advantage to 3-1 in the 49th minute with a penalty converted by Viktor Gyökeres, after Francisco Trincão was fouled inside the box by City’s Josko Gvardiol.
Manchester City struggled to create any real danger, with winger Savinho firing a long-range shot that sailed high into the stands in the 59th minute.
After a VAR review, the referee awarded Manchester City a penalty in the 69th minute. However, Erling Haaland’s spot-kick was blazed over the crossbar, missing the chance to reduce the deficit.
In the 71st minute, Savinho had another attempt that went straight into the goalkeeper’s arms. Moments later, Foden threatened again with a powerful shot from the right, but his effort went just wide of the far post.
Despite substitutions, with İlkay Gündoğan and Jeremy Doku entering the fray, it was Sporting who struck again in the 80th minute. Gyökeres completed his hat-trick with another penalty after City’s Nunes fouled substitute Katamo inside the box.
The final 10 minutes saw little action, even with Kevin De Bruyne being introduced, and the match ended with Sporting securing a dominant 4-1 victory.
