Ten-man Basel make light work of Sporting

FC Basel 1893 overcame the 58th-minute dismissal of Cabral to move into second place in UEFA Europa League Group G thanks to some stylish finishing against Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Fabian Schär opened the scoring midway through the first half to end a Basel goal drought in matches against the Lisbon outfit at seven minutes short of eight hours. They built on that platform with tenacity and some high-class finishing after the break, Valentin Stocker and David Degen enabling the Swiss side to leapfrog Videoton FC into second place in the section.

Basel made a lively start and through David Degen's fierce drive had already forced one notable save from Rui Patrício before they took the lead. Alexander Frei and Xandão slid in to contest Stocker's clever pass across the penalty area and Schär slotted in the loose ball from six metres.

Murat Yakin's men were given no time to enjoy their goal. Yann Sommer was forced to make an impressive stop to deny Ricky van Wolfswinkel, then Elías went close with a shot from the edge of the box at the beginning of the second period.

Basel were undaunted by having to play with a numerical disadvantage after the sending-off of Cabral for two bookable offences in the space of four minutes.

They responded by bringing on Mohamed Salah for Alexander Frei and he made an instant impact, entering a skilful exchange of passes with Stocker, who scored to give the hosts some breathing space. After Sommer launched a counterattack, Salah kept his nerve to play in David Degen, who sealed the victory from 12 metres.

As a result, a draw for Basel in their matchday six encounter with KRC Genk will be enough for Bebi to join the Belgian club in qualifying for the round of 32.