Sporting Lisbon kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Maribor this evening.
The home side cruised into a two-goal lead at the Estadio Jose Alvalde with strikes from Carlos Mane and Nani, although Nascimento Jefferson's own goal shortly before the interval gave the Slovenian outfit some hope.
A 50-minute delay at half time due to floodlight failure led to a rather stop-start second half, but it was Sporting who took control of the contest to seal the points through Islam Slimani's 65th-minute goal.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look back at the 90 minutes of action.
Match statistics
SPORTING LISBON
Shots: 17
On target: 9
Possession: 52%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 18
MARIBOR
Shots: 3
On target: 1
Possession: 48%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 18
Was the result fair?
Bar a 10-minute spell shortly after the restart, Sporting took control of this Champions League Group G clash from the outset. Having conceded completely against the run of play just moments before the interval, Maribor rallied following a prolonged half-time break and had their opponents nervously looking over their shoulders.
As it turned out the hosts hardly had to break into a sweat to secure the three points, which lifts them up to second in the standings and in with a real shot of progressing to the next round at the expense of Schalke 04. Maribor's biggest problem was their inability to test Rui Patricio, who had just one shot on his goal to contend with all evening. A job well done for Sporting, then, but the dream of qualification is now over for Ante Simundza's charges.
Sporting Lisbon's performance
The Primeira Liga outfit have proved good value for money in Europe this season, and that proved to be the case once more in the first half of this match. The main feature of the game was the number of high quality crosses from both flanks from Sporting's wide men, which led to two of the Lions' three goals on the night.
It is now just one defeat in 19 home games in European competition for Marco Silva's side, who travel to face group leaders Chelsea in a fortnight high on confidence in the knowledge that they simply have to match Schalke's result against Maribor in order to advance through. They may be a little off the pace domestically, but Sporting have highlighted that they have real pedigree at this level, which should lead to a thrilling contest at Stamford Bridge next month.
Maribor's performance
The Slovenian outfit failed to get going in truth, and bar a short spell after the interval when they started to ask their opponents a few questions at the back, this was a very one-sided game in terms of chances created. Even the goal, which was put into his own net by the unfortunate Jefferson, was well and truly against the run of play.
Maribor go into that aforementioned encounter with Schalke knowing that they can no longer progress in the competition, but the PrvaLiga side will no doubt take lessons learned into the domestic league campaign. Having won their last three prior to this one to climb within six points of the current league leaders, Maribor can now give the Slovenian top flight their full attention.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jasmin Handanovic: He may have conceded three times this evening, but the visiting side's stopper produced a string of world-class saves in the second half to give his team just a glimmer of hope. It is hard to pick out one stop in particular, but it was rather fitting that the last piece of action of the game involved him diving down low to deny William Carvalho who looked destined to score.
Biggest gaffe
UEFA would have been left red faced had this game been postponed, which looked extremely likely at one stage, due to a technical fault with the stadium's floodlights. On the field, however, opening goalscorer Mane failed to find the net from all of five yards out in the first half with an empty goal to tap into, although luckily for him the whistle had already been blown for an earlier infringement.
Referee performance
Scottish referee Craig Thomson had a fairly quiet evening, which is always a good sign, waving away Sporting's early penalty appeal which looked to be just about the right decision.
What next?
Sporting Lisbon: The Green and Whites host Vitoria Setubal in the Portuguese top flight on the weekend, while Chelsea await in their decisive Champions League meeting at the start of December.
Maribor: The Purples can now focus fully on their domestic aspirations, with Rudar next up in the league.
Daniel Lewis
