Having been thrust into the team due to an injury crisis, Kairat’s teenage goalkeeper, Sherkhan Kalmurza, made a dream start to his career, as he kept his team on level terms for the majority of the opening 45 minutes.
Having excellently denied Pedro Goncalves with his legs early on, Kalmurza would save the blushes of teammate Alexander Mrynskiy midway through the first half.
The defender’s heavy touch and rash tackle on Luis Suarez gifted Sporting a penalty, but Kalmurza refused to be fooled by Morten Hjulmand’s stuttering run-up and, having not committed himself fully to the dive, was able to stop the penalty with his legs.
The home side continued to dominate, but Chelsea-bound teenager Dastan Satpayev almost gave the Kazakhstani side an unlikely lead when his long-range strike had to be acrobatically tipped over by Joao Virginia in the Sporting goal.
Despite this, the hosts remained dominant and had already hit the post through a Suarez strike when they eventually opened the scoring, as Francisco Trincao curled a shot into the top corner with Kalmurza’s hand not strong enough to keep it out.
Even in a game that never took a break, the opening two minutes of the second half stood as a high point of frenetic action.
Satpayev was gifted an opportunity by some slack Sporting passing, but Virginia was alert to the danger and made a fine low save, and seconds later up the other end, Suarez hammered his header against the bar after Kalmurza was left flapping at a cross.
With 25 minutes to go the game Sporting’s lead stood in jeopardy, but Rui Borges’ men sealed the victory in emphatic style with a three-minute blitz.
Trincao bagged his second by curling his shot into the top corner from 12 yards out, before one minute later, substitute Alisson Santos bagged his first goal for the club after being teed up by a driving run from Geovany Quenda.
The winger quickly turned goalscorer, as he slalomed through three defenders and placed home a tidy finish to put the result beyond doubt, although the debutants would have the final say as substitute Edmilson rocketed in their first ever UCL goal with just four minutes remaining.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Geovany Quenda (Sporting CP)
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