An injury-time penalty from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting gave Schalke 04 a dramatic 4-3 win over Sporting Lisbon in a thrilling game in Group G of the Champions League this evening.
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Nani curled an effort wide of the far post for the visitors in a frenetic opening to the encounter.
Sixteen minutes into the match, Nani went one better and put the Portuguese side ahead. The ball was played to the winger after a short corner and despite mishitting the shot, it evaded Klaas Jan Huntelaar and rolled into the back of the net.
The Germans almost struck back immediately though, as Julian Draxler flashed a volley wide of the upright.
Sporting's perfect start took a slight setback when Islam Slimani was forced from the pitch with an injury to be replaced by Fredy Montero, and matters soon became far worse.
Mauricio was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Marco Hoger in the 33rd minute and they conceded just 60 seconds later as Chinedu Obasi's weak effort squirmed away from Rui Patricio and spun into the back of the net.
It took the home side just six minutes of the second half to take the lead as Huntelaar collected the ball and fired a shot beyond Patricio to make it 2-1.
Benedikt Howedes's strong header made it 3-1 and seemed to have put the game out of sight, but a clumsy challenge by Kaan Ayhan handed Sporting a lifeline from the spot and Adrien Silva duly obliged to make put fear back into the home side.
Remarkably, the 25-year-old forward levelled for the 10 men of Sporting with 12 minutes remaining to stun the home crowd into silence as the visitors seemed to have valiantly salvaged a point.
However, in the fourth minute of added time a penalty was given after the ball was adjudged to have struck the hand of the two-goal hero Silva.
Replays clearly showed that the ball actually hit Silva in the face, but despite Sporting's lengthy protests, Choupo-Moting converted the penalty to cap an incredible game of football which ended in cruel heartache for Sporting.
Kristian Johnson
