Sporting CP 4-1 Manchester City: Gyokeres hat-trick gives Amorim perfect Champions League send-off

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Sporting CP marked their final home game under Ruben Amorim in stunning fashion as Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 Champions League rout of Manchester City.

Amorim – who will take over as head coach of City’s fierce rivals Manchester United next week – oversaw a stunning fightback after Phil Foden put Pep Guardiola’s men in front.

Foden blasted past Franco Israel at his near post after dispossessing Hidemasa Morita near the edge of the Sporting area, as City dominated the early stages.

However, in-form striker Gyokeres raced clear of the City backline to lob Ederson seven minutes before half-time, netting his 21st goal of the season in all competitions.

City were then caught cold at the start of the second period as Maximiliano Araujo finished a flowing move almost straight from the kick-off, before Gyokeres extended their lead from the penalty spot following Josko Gvardiol’s foul on Francisco Trincao.

Erling Haaland had the chance to drag City back into the game but struck the crossbar with a penalty awarded for Ousmane Diomande’s handball, then Gyokeres claimed the match ball by converting the game’s third spot-kick, conceded by former Sporting man Matheus Nunes.

Amorim, who will arrive at Old Trafford on November 11, leaves Sporting in a fantastic position in the Champions League’s group phase with 10 points from four games.

City’s first defeat in the competition this season, and their third in a row overall, leaves them on seven points.

Sporting 4-1 Man City FT

Rúben Amorim marks his final home game in charge of Sporting by embarrassing his future club’s fierce rivals, Manchester City.#SPCMCI #UCL pic.twitter.com/ephworSLJP

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 5, 2024

Data Debrief: Three of the best for Gyokeres, three of the worst for City

Gyokeres is the first Sporting player to score a hat-trick in the European Cup/Champions League since Antonio Oliveria did so versus Dinamo Zagreb in 1982, and the first player to net a treble against City in the competition since Christopher Nkunku for RB Leipzig in 2021.

Following their EFL Cup exit versus Tottenham and Saturday’s loss at Bournemouth, City have now suffered three straight defeats for the first time since doing so between May and August 2021. They last lost three on the spin within the same season, meanwhile, in April 2018.

It is also just the third time a Guardiola team has conceded four goals in a Champions League match, along with a 4-0 defeat against Real Madrid with Bayern Munich in April 2014 and a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona with City in October 2016.

4 – Tonight was only the third time a team managed by Pep Guardiola has conceded four goals in a UEFA Champions League match, along with a 4-0 defeat against Real Madrid with Bayern Munich in April 2014 and 4-0 defeat to Barcelona with Man City in October 2016. Stunned. pic.twitter.com/bYYx79WiK4

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 5, 2024