Sporting CP qualify for Champions League knockouts for the first time in thirteen years with stunning victory over Borussia Dortmund
Sporting CP secured an impressive 3-1 victory over German giants Borussia Dortmund to secure a place in the Champions League round of 16 - for the first time since 2009 - with a match to spare.
Having suffered a difficult and sobering 1-5 loss to Ajax in their opening Champions League group stage match of the campaign, few would have seen Sporting turning things around in such drastic fashion to advance to the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition, even fewer after the second round of fixtures when they suffered a second successive loss, this time away to Dortmund.
However, back to back thumpings of Turkish side Besiktas gave new life to Sporting, as did the return of experienced centreback Sebastian Coates and star man Pedro Goncalves, both of whom proved critical in changing Sporting’s fortunes.
In the latest clash with Dortmund, Sporting were ruthless and defended resiliently as a team, and were fully deserving of the two-goal win they craved to secure passage to the next round.
Pedro Goncalves was unsurprisingly the man to break the deadlock, taking the ball in his stride before slotting home on the half hour mark, before then doubling Sporting’s advantage with an impeccable first-time effort from the edge of the box that gave the keeper no chance.
Sporting had their fair share of defending to do from that point forwards, with Dortmund seeking to get back into the game, but things went bad to worse for the Germans with 15 minutes remaining when Emre Can saw red for a petulant swing.
Sporting then made their man advantage count in the 80th minute, Paulinho brought down in the penalty area to present Pedro Goncalves with the opportunity to secure his hattrick. His tame penalty was comfortably saved though, but Pedro Porro was there on the rebound to head home to make it 3-0 to the hosts.
A comfortable lead gave Amorim the license to bring on a young face in Flavio Nazinho for the closing stages of the game and, though Dortmund pulled a goal back in the 93rd minute through Donyell Malen, Sporting maintained their composure to seal an impressive 3-1 win.
Pedro Goncalves. Author: Sporting Clube de Portugal. License link.
