Sporting Lisbon demolish Bodo/Glimt to advance to Champions League quarter finals
Sporting Lisbon staged a stunning recovery by thrashing Norwegian underdogs Bodo/Glimt 5-0 on Tuesday night, securing their place in the Champions League quarter finals with a 5-3 victory on aggregate.
Following a 3-0 loss in the first leg of the last 16 tie last week above the Arctic Circle, the Portuguese outfit delivered a devastating performance at home to qualify for the last eight for the first time since the 1982/83 campaign.
Bodo/Glimt have earned global praise for their outstanding showings in this season's Champions League, yet after Goncalo Inacio broke the deadlock, the title holders from Portugal took complete command.
Goals from Pedro Goncalves and Luis Suarez levelled the scores to push the match into extra time, with Maximiliano Araujo netting in the 92nd minute to give Sporting the lead in the tie for the first time, and Rafael Nel added a fifth goal right at the end.
The Norwegians had previously stunned last season's runners up Inter Milan during the play off stage and beaten Manchester City along with Atletico Madrid in the group phase.
Those remarkable achievements led into their dominant first leg win over Sporting at their 8,000 seat Aspmyra Stadium, leaving Kjetil Knutsen's team on the brink of the quarter finals.
However, it may have overwhelmed them, as they appeared tentative from the outset in Lisbon.
The home team controlled the game, generating shots almost as frequently as the visitors managed passes in the early stages.
About 2,000 supporters from Bodo/Glimt travelled the great distance to Jose Alvalade stadium, only to see their hopes shattered in the downpour.
Knutsen stuck with the identical starting eleven for his sixth straight Champions League fixture, setting a new record for the competition. Rui Borges's Sporting side bombarded the Bodo/Glimt net, with Nikita Haikin denying the Colombian forward Suarez in the opening moments.
Kasper Hogh, scorer in the initial match, missed a golden opportunity to put the away side in front against the flow of the game, slicing his effort well wide.
A deflected shot from ex Barcelona player Francisco Trincao flew off course, but he contributed to the breakthrough via a corner kick. Inacio jumped highest to head it in and ignite Sporting's revival.
Bodo/Glimt nearly equalised soon after, but Odin Bjortuft's header struck the crossbar, the ball then bouncing up and hitting the frame again before the hosts cleared their lines.
The Portuguese club struck for a second goal shortly past the hour, as Suarez burst down the right flank and squared for Goncalves to finish from close range.
The turnaround gained momentum, and Suarez joined the scoring with a 78th minute spot kick after Fredrik Andre Bjorkan handled the ball.
The visitors clung on to take the contest into extra time, but just two minutes in, Araujo unleashed a shot that arrowed inside Haikin's near post for Sporting's fourth.
The hosts maintained possession sensibly for the remainder of the added period and sealed the win in the dying seconds as Nel blasted into the upper corner.