Serhou Guirassy scored his 10th goal in this season’s Champions League as Borussia Dortmund beat Sporting in the first-leg of their knockout phase play-off.
Guirassy headed the opener on the hour mark to move level with Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski for the most goals scored in a single European Cup or Champions League campaign by a Dortmund player.
The German side had been second best before getting in front, scoring with just their second shot on target, but they grew in confidence from that moment.
Just eight minutes after later, Guinea striker Guirassy turned provider as Sporting completely switched off to allow former Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross the opportunity to finish with his thigh at the far post.
Karim Adeyemi rounded off a swift counter-attack, working a neat one-two with Julian Brandt, to put the Bundesliga club firmly in the driving seat for the second-leg.
Sporting have failed to win in five Champions League outings since Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United and it was a story of spurned chances on home soil.
Maximiliano Araujo saw a powerful strike crash back off the crossbar in the first half, while Conrad Harder, Francisco Trincao and Joao Simoes were all denied by Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Top-scorer Viktor Gyokeres was restricted to an appearance from the bench as he works his way back from injury and struggled to make much of an impact for the hosts.
It is a first win for Dortmund manager Niko Kovac in his second game at the helm.
Dortmund host Sporting in the return leg on 19 February.