Soccer-Sporting steamroller Besiktas in Lisbon

A double from Pedro Goncalves helped Sporting to a dominant 4-0 Champions League home win over Besiktas on Wednesday. An injury-hit Besiktas were steamrollered by Sporting who scored their first three goals in a 10-minute spell late in the first half.

A double from Pedro Goncalves helped Sporting to a dominant 4-0 Champions League home win over Besiktas on Wednesday.

An injury-hit Besiktas were steamrollered by Sporting who scored their first three goals in a 10-minute spell late in the first half. Former Wolverhampton Wanderers youngster Goncalves put in a man-of-the-match display, firing the hosts into a 2-0 lead while Paulinho scored their third from a counter-attack before halftime.

Pablo Sarabia wrapped up the scoring early in the second half. Portuguese champions Sporting are third in Group C, level on six points with second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who they face in Lisbon in their next game. They finish their group-stage campaign at Ajax Amsterdam, who top the group with 12 points.

Besiktas are bottom and without a point. Missing key players like Miralem Pjanic, Michy Batshuayi and Domagoj Vida due to injuries, Besiktas took a more aggressive approach than in their previous encounter, which Sporting won 4-1.

But the strategy backfired and left the Turkish team exposed to counter-attacks, which Sporting coach Ruben Amorim exploited. The four goals all came from similar moves and were created by the speed of the Sporting attackers, who could have scored more if they had not taken their foot off the gas with the game won in the second half.

The only negative for Sporting came when Spain international defender Pedro Porro was forced off due to injury.

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