Gyokeres grabs hat-trick as Sporting maul Man City
Sporting marked the final home game of coach Ruben Amorim's reign in stunning fashion as Viktor Gyokeres' hat-trick saw them come from behind to thrash Manchester City 4-1 and maintain their superb start to the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Portuguese league leaders were outplayed for most of the first half and should have trailed by more than Phil Foden's early goal, but Swedish striker Gyokeres levelled it up before the break.
City were caught cold at the start of the second period as Maximiliano Araujo finished a flowing move straight from the kickoff, before Gyokeres put Sporting further ahead minutes later from the penalty spot.
Erling Haaland had the chance to drag City back into the game but struck the crossbar with a penalty before Gyokeres wrapped it up for the hosts with another spot kick to send the Estadio Jose Alvalade crowd into raptures.
Amorim, who will take over as Manchester United manager on Nov. 11 and whose last game for Sporting is away at Braga at the weekend, milked the fans' acclaim on a lap of honour at the end.
He leaves the club in second position in the Champions League group phase with 10 points from four games, behind only Liverpool. City's first defeat in this year's competition leaves them on seven points although more worryingly they have now lost three games in a row in all competitions.
"When you lost 4-1 you can't say too much," City manager Pep Guardiola said. "We made a fantastic first half but we struggled to score, we missed the simple passes.
"The second half we were emotionally not stable enough."
All eyes were on Amorim before kickoff after he accepted United's offer to take over from the sacked Erik Ten Hag.
The highly-rated 39-year-old has landed two Portuguese titles in four years with Sporting and they have started this season's domestic championship with 10 wins from 10 games.
Up against master tactician Guardiola, however, he was given an uncomfortable taste of what he can expect in the Premier League during a first half in which his side could have been blown away by an injury-hit City side.
Foden struck after four minutes when Sporting lost the ball inside their own half and the England forward advanced to smash his shot past Franco Israel.
Haaland, who had an off night, had several chances and Bernardo Silva also went close for City, while Gyokeres made a hash of a gilt-edged opportunity shortly after Foden's opener.
But Gyokores made no mistake when he was played through in the 38th minute by Geovany Quenda, bouncing a shot into the ground and beyond City keeper Ederson.
City never got going in the second half and were sloppy at the back as they went on to concede four goals in the Champions League for the first time since 2016.
Araujo was played in by Pedro Goncalves to score in style. Then Josko Gvardiol needlessly shoved over Francisco Trincao in the area and Gyokeres beat Ederson from the spot.
City's worst losing run since 2018 was sealed when Gyokores tucked away his second penalty in the 81st minute after a clumsy foul by Matheus Nunes on Geny Catamo.
Gyokores, the first Swede to score a Champions League hat-trick since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2013, has scored five goals in this season's competition, a figure only matched by Bayern Munich's Harry Kane.
Magnificent Milan stun Real Madrid 3-1 at Bernabeu
AC Milan's Malick Thiaw, Alvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders all got on the scoresheet in a surprise 3-1 win at holders Real Madrid in the Champions League as the continental heavyweights clashed at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Thiaw gave seven-times European champions Milan the lead with a header from a corner in the 12th minute but Vinicius Jr equalised with a penalty 11 minutes later.
Morata put the visitors back in front by netting from a rebound in the 39th and Reijnders fired home a Rafael Leao cross after a counter attack to wrap up Milan's statement win over the lacklustre title holders.
Real are languishing in 17th place in the 36-team Champions League table with six points, one spot ahead of Milan on goal difference after four games.
Off the back of a stunning 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in the Clasico over a week ago, Carlo Ancelotti's Real struggled again and looked far from the commanding side who finished last-season's campaign with a LaLiga and Champions League double.
The last time Real lost successive games in all competitions was over three years ago when they were beaten 2-1 by Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League in late September 2021 and lost by the same result to Espanyol in LaLiga five days later.
"It is clear that this is bad. Defending, like attacking, is a collective thing, we have to put the emphasis on that," captain Lucas Vazquez told Movistar Plus.
"We're at a time when our opponents are punishing us a lot. We have to work so that it doesn't happen again."
Real tried to control possession early but Milan were a constant menace on the counter, exploiting Rafael Leao’s speed in space behind Vazquez, who was often exposed in the same way he had been in the Clasico loss to Barca.
Milan boss Paulo Fonseca said on Monday he had carefully studied how Barca thrashed Real, who struggled against their rivals’ speed on the counter, conceding four goals in a similar fashion to how Milan got in position to open the scoring.
Leao beat Vazquez with a great run on the left, with Eder Militao coming to the rescue to block but conceding a corner that Christian Pulisic lifted to Thiaw who squeezed between Aurelien Tchouameni and Militao to head past Andriy Lunin.
Real went into attacking mode as they sought an equaliser and, after Vinicius Jr had a couple of efforts saved by Mike Maignan, the Brazilian levelled with a penalty after he was fouled by a sliding tackle from defender Emerson Royal.
However, Milan immediately got back in control and, after Lunin made a two fine stops to deny Reijnders and Pulisic, a terrible pass by Tchouameni gifted the visitors the ball and a quick counter ended with Morata tapping a rebound in.
Maignan made another good save to keep out a low, angled shot by Kylian Mbappe after real broke just before halftime, when their players walked to the dressing room under heavy booing from the frustrated Bernabeu crowd.
Ancelotti made three substitutions at the interval but Real were even worse in the second-half and toothless up front, with Vinicius, Mbappe and Jude Bellingham missing easy passes and struggling to beat Milan’s disciplined five-man defensive line.
After Lunin made a stunning one-handed from Leao's close-range header in the 53rd minute, the Portuguese winger again darted up the left before setting up the unmarked Reijnders, who swivelled before firing a low shot into the net in the 73rd.
Real thought they had cut the deficit in the 82nd minute with Antonio Ruediger striking home a rebound off the keeper, but his effort was ruled out for an offside in the build-up, leaving the Madrid fans to trudge home dejected.
