Lens had the ball, the noise and the early pressure. Sporting had Luis Suarez. By the end of a Tuesday night in northern France, the Portuguese side had a 2-0 win, six points from two Champions League games and a striker who keeps finding new ways to hurt people.
For the opening quarter of an hour the hosts pushed Sporting back and made them defend in numbers. It looked like the sort of spell that ends with a goal for the home side. It ended with one for the visitors.
Suarez finishes first time
The breakthrough arrived in the 22nd minute. Nestory Irankunda found space and sent over a low cross, and Suarez met it first time with a flick that left Lens with no time to react. It was a finish about touch rather than power.
The Colombian could have made it two ten minutes later. He raced clear on goal and hit a fierce shot, but Lens goalkeeper Robin Risser got a hand to it and tipped it wide. Lens answered when Franjo Ivanovic drove a shot against the post, and Irankunda later fired narrowly off target as Sporting reminded the hosts how dangerous they are on the break.
Lens push, Kaique Pereira says no
The French side kept pressing after the break, with Florian Thauvin, the 2018 World Cup winner, pulling the strings. Twice they came close. Amadou Haidara was denied by Kaique Pereira in the Sporting goal, and Odsonne Edouard, once of Celtic, was stopped by another sharp reaction save.
Those two stops decided the night. A single goal on a night like this is never safe, and Sporting needed their goalkeeper to keep it that way.
Doumbia settles it
With 16 minutes left, summer signing Issa Doumbia ran onto a superb through ball from Silas Andersen and poked a calm finish past Risser. That ended the contest. Lens, who had pushed hard for more than an hour, were suddenly chasing a two-goal gap that never looked likely to close.
The numbers around Suarez are striking. He has now scored in eight consecutive matches in all competitions, has nine goals in ten games this season, and with seven in the competition he is Sporting's all-time leading scorer in the Champions League.
What comes next
Sporting beat Galatasaray 3-1 last month and now have six points from two games. They host LASK in Lisbon on Wednesday 21 October at 20:00 BST. Lens, who had come from behind to beat Slavia Prague in their previous outing, have a short trip across the Belgian border to face Club Brugge at the same time.
Match facts: Lens 0-2 Sporting CP, UEFA Champions League league phase, Tuesday 13 October 2026. Goals: Luis Suarez 22 minutes (Irankunda cross), Issa Doumbia with 16 minutes remaining (Silas Andersen through ball). Source: BBC Sport.
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