After an even first half against the Portuguese outfit, Sporting CP needed just four minutes of the second half to take the lead.
Despite City enjoying the ball from the restart, the hosts regained possession and pounced. A quick counter saw full-back Denilson Santos played in behind. Despite Farid Alfa-Ruprecht‘s best efforts to track the run and make a tackle, the Sporting defender shot and the ball squeezed under Oliver Whatmuff‘s hand.
MATCH REPORT | SPORTING CP 2-0 CITY
Seven minutes later Gabriel Silva doubled Sporting’s advantage. After leaving City defenders struggling to get close to him, his effort flew past Whatmuff from inside the box, another goal against the run of play.
The task City faced became even harder when Max Alleyne was shown a red card for a tackle on Silva who looked set to be one-on-one against Whatmuff.
Despite on-target chances for Divine Mukasa and Ryan McAidoo, Ben Wilkinson‘s side were unable to find the back of the Sporting net as we picked up our second defeat in the UEFA Youth League’s newly-formatted League Phase.
Watch the highlights from our trip to Sporting CP via the video above...
