Ruben Amorim signs off in Lisbon with Man City thrashing

Amorim will take charge of the Red Devils on March 11 after his final game in charge of Sporting this weekend at Braga, but he could not have wished for a better send-off in front of the fans.

It was City's heaviest defeat since September 2020 and only the second time in his trophy-ladened spell at The Etihad that Pep Guardiola has been beaten in three consecutive games in a single season.

To cap a thoroughly depressing night for City, star striker Erling Haaland blasted a second-half penalty against the crossbar in a game that the visitors had led 1-0 through Phil Foden only to completely collapse.

Sporting's own Scandanavian superstar Viktor Gyokeres, who has been heavily tipped to join Amorim at Old Trafford, did much of the damage with a superb hat-trick.

The Swede drove home a 38th-minute leveller to and then kept his cool after the break to beat Ederson twice from the spot.

The first of those penalties came in a disastrous start to the second half for City as they went behind seconds after the restart as Maximiliano Araujo raced onto a through ball and fired into the corner.

The victory was labelled the greatest of Amorim's Sporting reign by media in the ground and gave United a taste of what to expect when the Portuguese takes over in just under a weeks' time.

Indeed, Amorim is set to go toe-to-toe with Guardiola again when United head to The Etihad in the Premier League on December 15.

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