Ruben Amorim endears himself to Man Utd fans in dream Man City thrashing - 6 talking points
SPORTING LISBON 4-1 MAN CITY: Ruben Amorim secured one of the great victories in Sporting Lisbon's history as his final home game with the club saw his side thump his future Manchester United rivals Manchester City
by Daniel Orme · The MirrorRuben Amorim bid farewell to Sporting Lisbon in style with a stunning 4-1 thumping of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Phil Foden had given Pep Guardiola 's side the perfect start as he profited from a Sporting mistake. City dominated large swaths of the first half but found themselves level as the in-form Viktor Gyokeres equalised with a lethal finish.
But the Premier League champions utterly collapsed after the break. Maximiliano Araujo completed the turnaround just 20 seconds after the restart, while Gyokeres doubled his evening's work from the penalty spot mere moments later.
Erling Haaland was given the chance to reduce the deficit after a controversial penalty call but fired his effort against the woodwork. Gyokeres eventually completed his hat-trick with a second penalty as Amorim's final home game saw him secure arguably one of his most memorable victories.
Here are all of the talking points from the Portuguese capital:
Sporting fans make feelings clear
Before the game, Amorim said he would "understand" if Sporting fans would be angry at his bombshell exit. After all, he had underlined his commitment to the club in the summer after seeing a Premier League move fall through.
But there was none of that against City. Amorim was honoured with an in-stadium display, with the many trophies he had won with his time at the club featuring. While he was also given a plaque and a warm embrace by Sporting president Frederico Varandas.
It just shows how fondly he is thought of with the Portuguese giants. If he can get anywhere near that reputation during his time at Old Trafford, he will have done a vert good job.
Foden punishes sloppy start
After that pre-match exchange, the hosts actually endured a nightmare start to Amorim's final home game in charge - and it was a player that had for so long haunted his predecessor Erik ten Hag. As the hosts attempted to play out from the back, Hidemasa Morita had the ball robbed from him.
And that allowed Foden to trot forwards and fire a lethal effort home for his third goal of the season. Given that Foden had scored six goals in his last three Premier League outings against Erik ten Hag 's United, Amorim might be sick of the sight of him already.
But with a derby coming up next month, Foden will be keen to score against the Portuguese's side once again - as his search for his first league goal of the season continues.
What went wrong for Man City vs Sporting Lisbon? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Gyokeres sends strong message
Just as quickly as City had hit the front, the home side had a golden chance to equalise. And it fell to the man that most inside the José Alvalade Stadium would have wanted it to - Viktor Gyokeres.
This time, Rico Lewis was robbed of possession and the Swedish striker was released in-behind. But he produced a rotten finish as he simply chipped the ball into Ederson's hands.
And while his first finish was awful, the same cannot be said of his second as Gyokeres levelled matters before the break. As City dominated matters, they allowed their backline to get higher and higher.
And that allowed Geovany Quenda to take advantage. The wideman played a brilliant ball in-behind the defence, which Gyokeres predictably latched onto. The former Coventry man showed his lethal finishing ability to fire a brilliant finish past Ederson. If - and it's a big if - he moves to Old Trafford, that refusal to let his head drop in the face of disappointment will be very useful.
After scoring twice further from the penalty spot in the second-half, Gyokeres claimed the match ball for the second consectuve game. And it's certainly no surprise that many of Europe's top clubs are keen on him.
Quickfire turnaround complete
On the topic of not letting their heads drop, whatever Amorim said at the break had the perfect impact on his Sporting side. Araujo put the hosts ahead pratically seconds after kick-off as he charged through a feeble City defence and finished coolly past Ederson.
And it then got even worse. Just a matter of seconds after the game got back underway, ex-Wolves star Francisco Trincao jinked down the right and drew a poor challenge from Josko Gvardiol in the penalty area.
The referee was left in little doubt and pointed to the spot. Gyokeres, predictably, was the man to step up and powered a cool penalty home. If Amorim can use those sorts of powers of recovery in Manchester, then he will very quickly become a popular man.
City handed lucky penalty
While it looked as though City were heading for defeat in Portugal, they were handed a huge lifeline by the referee. As Bernardo Silva jinked into the box, he let fly with a powerful shot that hit the otustretched arm of Ousmane Diomande.
In fairness to the Sporting man, he couldn't really do anything about it given the close proximity. The referee did not give the decision on the pitch but changed his mind upon a VAR review.
It was certainly very harsh but justice was done as Haaland blasted his penalty onto the crossbar.
City stuck in a rut
Whisper it but City are in a little bit of a mini crisis right now. Their defeat to Sporting Lisbon is their third in a row in all competitions.
It is just the third time that has happened during Guardiola's spell in charge at the Etihad Stadium - the others coming in August 2021 and April 2018. And the Spaniard will now be aiming to avoid a bit of unwanted history.
He has never lost four consecutive games with Manchester City. They face another tough test this weekend though as they travel to Brighton.
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