Champions League: Sporting top CSKA Moscow with late goal; BATE Borisov edge Partizan
Islam Slimani struck a late winner as Sporting Lisbon defeated CSKA Moscow 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday.
Slimani stroked the ball past CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev in the 82nd minute after a one-two with Andre Carrillo, who fed the ball to the Algerian with an elegant backheel.
Earlier, Sporting had taken the lead in the 12th minute when Bryan Ruiz and Teofilo Gutierrez broke through CSKA's offside trap, with Ruiz leaving Akinfeev stranded before giving Gutierrez the ball for a simple finish.
CSKA's Seydou Doumbia sent the game into halftime at 1-1 after bursting in behind the Sporting defense for a 40th-minute equalizer. Doumbia had earlier seen his 27th-minute penalty saved by Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
BATE Borisov beat 10-man Partizan Belgrade 1-0 through Mikhail Gordeichuk's second-half header 15 minutes from time.
Partizan had earlier seen midfielder Marko Jevtovic sent off for a second caution in first-half stoppage time.
In Tuesday night's early kick-off, Astana became the first Kazakhstan team to win a Champions League playoff match with a 1-0 home victory over APOEL Nicosia.
A fine header from Baurzhan Dzholchiyev on 14 minutes proved enough for the Blue and Yellows, who are aiming to make their debut in the group stages.
