Lisbon: Galatasaray suffered a 3-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon in their opening Champions League match on Wednesday evening at the José Alvalade Stadium. The Turkish side started brightly, surprising the home team early on when they opened the scoring after just five minutes with an own goal by Gonzalo Inácio, who deflected a shot from Uruguayan Lucas Torreira into his own net.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Sporting thought they had equalized in the 19th minute when Colombian Luis Suárez found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside against Maxi Araujo at the start of the attack. The Portuguese side leveled the score in the 27th minute through Guinean Djene Katamu, who fired a low left-footed shot into the bottom corner, capitalizing on Galatasaray’s defensive lapse in the penalty area. The first half ended 1-1.

In the second half, Sporting continued their attacking pressure, earning a penalty after a foul on Luis Suárez. The Colombian striker confidently converted the spot-kic
k, giving his team the lead for the first time in the match. Sporting gave their opponents no chance to recover, as Rodrigo Zalazar doubled their advantage just six minutes later with a stunning free-kick that nestled into the back of the net, igniting the stands at the Alvalade Stadium.

The Turkish side tried to get back into the game in the remaining minutes, and their coach made attacking substitutions in search of a way back into the match, but Sporting’s defense remained resolute, while goalkeeper Rui Silva dealt with the attempts on goal.