Sporting Lisbon have secured a 3-1 victory against Maribor in Tuesday's Champions League Group G clash at the Jose Alvalade, the game experiencing a delay of nearly an hour following a floodlight failure at half time.
© Getty Images
The hosts opened the scoring after just 10 minutes following a dominant spell in the early stages of the game, with Jefferson's cross from the left flank falling to Mane, who duly struck home from close range.
Sporting nearly added to their tally just four minutes later, but Adrien Silva was put under pressure and so failed to capitalise on Nani's ball.
The former Manchester United man succeeded in doubling Sporting's lead in the 35th minute when he capitalised on lacklustre defending to pick his spot and blast the ball past goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic into the goal from close range.
However, Jefferson gifted Maribor a way back into the game with just four minutes left in the first half when he headed Ales Mejac's cross into his own net.
© Getty Images
A floodlight failure at half time forced a lengthy delay, but after approximately 50 minutes, the game was back underway.
Sporting took a while to get back into the groove in the second half, with their opponents more dangerous in the early stages following the long break.
Nevertheless, the hosts rallied and found themselves on the scoresheet once again thanks to a moment of quality from Islam Slimani, the Algeria international volleying home following Nani's headed flick-on.
From then on, it was a case of damage limitation for the Slovenians, with Handanovic having to be at his best to thwart Slimani and Mario in the latter stages of the second half, with Fredy Montero and Nani firing wide on more than one occasion.
No Data Analysis info
