Ruben Amorim endeared himself to Manchester United fans before even arriving at Old Trafford by engineering a stunning 4-1 defeat of Manchester City with Sporting Lisbon.
The Portuguese was taking charge of his final home match as Sporting boss before officially starting work as United’s head coach and watched as his side came from behind to thrash City in the Champions League.
City took an early lead through Phil Foden but Sporting hit back with a hat-trick that included two penalties from Viktor Gyokeres – who has been tipped to follow Amorim to United – and a strike by Maximiliano Araujo.
Obrigado, Rúben Amorim 💚 #UCL pic.twitter.com/itvLdHKS6C
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 5, 2024
It was the first time City – for whom Erling Haaland missed a penalty – have lost three games in succession since 2018, excluding a later sequence in 2021 that included the Community Shield.
The evening began with Sporting in celebratory mood as they showed their appreciation for Amorim for a four-year spell in which he delivered two domestic titles.
They were celebrating again by the end, but only after overcoming a poor start in which City could have put the result beyond doubt themselves.
City won 5-0 on their last visit to the Jose Alvalade Stadium and may have fancied a repeat as they opened the scoring within four minutes.
Hidemasa Morita was robbed by Foden and punished as the England international fired through a poor attempt at a save by Franco Israel.
It was Foden’s eighth goal in his last nine Champions League starts and he nipped in to seize possession again soon after, but this time the attack ended when Haaland sliced wide.
Israel almost had another moment to forget when he dallied in possession but he cleared in the nick of time from under Haaland’s feet.
Despite City’s dominance, they were vulnerable to the counter-attack.
They had a lucky escape after Rico Lewis gave the ball away and Gyokeres raced away from inside his own half only to shot tamely at Ederson.
It was a poor miss but the former Coventry striker was in the right place to hook clear off his own line from a Haaland header.
Haaland was also denied by a fine save from Israel when he met a Foden cross with a fierce volley and Bernardo Silva shot wide.
City were made to rue their profligacy as Sporting snatched an equaliser before the break.
FULL-TIME | Defeat in Lisbon.
🟢 4-1 🩵 #ManCity | #UCL pic.twitter.com/2qJpvXaRQ2
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 5, 2024
Again they were caught by a quick break as Geovany Quenda released Gyokeres and this time the Swede made no mistake as he outpaced teenager Jamhai Simpson-Pusey to score.
It sparked a remarkable turnaround, with Francisco Trincao shooting over just before the break and Sporting grabbing the lead within 20 seconds of the second half starting.
The hosts went straight upfield and Araujo finished emphatically after timing his run onto Pedro Goncalves’ neat through-ball to perfection.
Things immediately got worse for City as they conceded a penalty within a minute of the next restart when Josko Gvardiol bundled Trincao over in the box. Gyokeres thumped home the spot-kick.
City were offered a route back into the game when they were awarded a controversial penalty of their own by VAR after a Silva shot struck Ousmane Diomande’s arm. Haaland failed to capitalise as he smashed the ball against the crossbar.
The third penalty of the game was awarded 10 minutes from time when substitute Geny Catamo was knocked over by Matheus Nunes.
Gyokeres again finished emphatically and Amorim, who will face City again in a Manchester derby next month, could wave farewell to the home fans in good heart.
Scott Parker spoke of his pride as Burnley moved to the top of the Sky Bet Championship with a 2-1 win at Coventry.Haji Wright controversially opened the scoring after five minutes before Jaidon Anthony scored either side of half-time to make it 27 league games unbeaten for the Clarets.“Immensely proud, a tough place to come, we knew that coming into the game,” said Burnley boss Parker...
Leeds boss Daniel Farke felt his side’s 1-1 draw with struggling Luton at Kenilworth Road was definitely a point gained in their quest to reach the Premier League.The Hatters had taken the lead when Izzy Jones volleyed home his first goal for the club in the 15th minute before Daniel James curled home an equaliser just before the half-hour mark.Manor Solomon missed a glorious late chance to ...
Manager Grant McCann described Doncaster’s 2-0 League Two victory at 10-man Cheltenham as a “big win” as they kept their title hopes alive with two late goals.Jamie Sterry smashed home Rovers’ opener and his first of the season in the 89th minute before a second – deep into second-half stoppage-time – from former Robins striker Rob Street sealed maximum points.M...
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was delighted to see his side boost both their promotion push and goal difference with a 3-0 victory over Burton in front of watching owner Ryan Reynolds.Second-half goals from Steven Fletcher, Sam Smith and Jack Marriott earned Wrexham the spoils against a Burton side that had lost Charlie Webster to a red card after just 10 minutes.Victory sees Wrexham move six points...
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is looking forward to “one of the most beautiful games in football” against Real Madrid after losing more ground on Premier League champions-elect Liverpool following a 1-1 draw at Everton.The Gunners boss was unhappy with the awarding of the second-half penalty for a soft foul by Myles Lewis-Skelly on Jack Harrison which allowed Iliman Ndiaye to cancel out...
Wycombe head coach Mike Dodds urged his players to rediscover the art of goalscoring after firing a second successive blank in their 1-0 League One defeat at Reading.After a 0-0 home draw against struggling Shrewsbury on Tuesday, Wanderers again failed to find the net and were sunk by a 77th-minute penalty from Harvey Knibbs.The Chairboys now lie six points behind second-placed Wrexham but with a ...
Interim Tranmere boss Andy Crosby said his players would not be getting carried away after his side made it three home wins on the bounce with a 4-0 thrashing of Chesterfield at Prenton Park.Goals from Cameron Norman, Regan Hendry, Josh Davison and Sam Finley did the damage as Rovers put some daylight between themselves and the League Two relegation places.Tranmere have now lost just once in eight...
Everton did near-neighbours Liverpool a favour by taking points off Arsenal in a 1-1 draw but judging by the Gunners’ performance they have already checked out of the title race.With the gap to the leaders still 11 points, Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final at home to Real Madrid has far greater significance for their season and that was reflected in Mikel Arteta’s team sel...
Tranmere returned to winning ways with a convincing 4-0 victory over Chesterfield at Prenton Park to give their League Two survival hopes a massive boost.Four second-half strikes saw Rovers record their third home win on the bounce and end Chesterfield’s six-game unbeaten run.The visitors almost broke the deadlock after 15 minutes but Liam Mandeville saw his close-range effort blocked by the...
Leeds dropped out of the Championship automatic-promotion spots after they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Luton at Kenilworth Road.Dan James scored a stunning equaliser, cancelling out Izzy Jones’ early opener, but the visitors could not find a winner as they slipped to third in the table.The Whites looked strong in the early stages, trying to take advantage of a slip by Christ Makoss...
- 1 Reading extend unbeaten League One run to 11 games with win over Peterborough
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Hollywood superstar Anne Hathaway sends clear message to Bukayo Saka
- 7 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 8 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 9 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 10 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis