Ruben Amorim was thrilled to have the perfect farewell but admitted his side were "hasty" and were fortunate .

Sporting had gone a goal behind early on against City, who dominated the early exchanges and looked as if they were going to deliver a firm reality check to the next manager.

The Portuguese side had levelled by half-time courtesy of the prolific Viktor Gyokeres, who produced a stunning finish as he begun his memorable night. Sporting began the second-half with a bang - scoring twice in a matter of minutes. Gyokeres then completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

It was the perfect ending for Amorim, who waved farewell to the stadium he's called home for years. He lapped up the applause as he said goodbye to the fans - but confessed the game could've gone another way on a different day.

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He said: "The opponent missed a penalty, we were hasty at the beginning. There are days when things have to happen in a certain way and that's what happened. I couldn't ask for another farewell."

Amorim went on to add: "It was written on the wall the that this night had to be like this. It was very special and we deserved it. I was playing with words when I mentioned Sir Alex Ferguson, and being compared to him. But I'm not going to read anything for the first six months in Manchester.

"I thank everyone for this victory. I'm going to keep these memories forever and it was a beautiful moment. This was the way to say farewell in this stadium."

Gyokeres said on his outgoing coach: "We will miss him a lot. We've done amazing things together. We will miss him and the other guys in the staff who will leave. We have to look forward and attack the next challenge ahead of us."

Amorim knew before the game that the result was going to be magnified. He joked that a win for Sporting would leave United fans thinking they'd won the jackpot, but had attempted to keep a lid on expectations.

He joked: “My focus is on winning the match for Sporting. The conclusions are not important for me because they could be erroneous: if we win tomorrow they will think the new has arrived. That will be very difficult. It could increase expectations, I don’t know what is better when I start my new adventure.”

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