Luis Suárez has scored in nine straight games. The last Sporting man to do it was Yazalde

By the Data Desk · Published 22 OCT 06:45

First reported by Record · 22 OCT 01:45

Luis Suárez scored from the spot after five minutes against LASK and again from close range in the 89th, and that makes nine games in a row with a goal for Sporting. According to Record, no Sporting player had done that since Héctor Yazalde in 1973/74, and yet Sporting lost 2-3 at Alvalade on Wednesday night.

• Nine straight games with a goal, from Alverca on 22 August to LASK on 21 October: 11 goals, four of them penalties, by our count from ESPN match data. That is half of Sporting's 22 goals in the run.
• Record counts 49 goals for Sporting: he has passed Paulinho Cascavel and Beto Acosta (48) and is one behind Ricardo Sá Pinto (50).
• Sporting CP 2-3 LASK Linz in the Champions League: LASK scored three times between the 15th and the 68th minute, two of them on fast breaks (ESPN). Next: Académico de Viseu at Alvalade on Sunday 25 October, 20:30 in Lisbon.

Record's line on the Colombian is simple: "marcou pelo nono jogo consecutivo no Sporting, tornando-se o primeiro a fazê-lo desde Héctor Yazalde em 1973/74" (he scored for the ninth game in a row for Sporting, the first to do so since Héctor Yazalde in 1973/74). Yazalde is the Argentine who won the European Golden Shoe with Sporting in that season, so the comparison carries weight in Lisbon. The paper adds that it was his 11th goal in 11 games this season and his fourth in the Champions League.

There is a European detail too. With goals against Lens and LASK after the penalty against Galatasaray, Record says he is the third Sporting player to score in three Champions League games in a row, after Sá Pinto in 2000/01 and Nani in 2014/15. It was his second brace in the competition; the first, Record recalls, came against PSG last season.

The game itself turned the other way. Suárez put Sporting ahead from the spot, Christoph Lang equalised on 15 minutes, and after the break Saša Kalajdžić and Kryštof Daněk scored within five minutes, both on the counter. Sporting had 62% of the ball and 16 shots, four on target; LASK had 11 shots and put seven on target in front of 48,985 fans (ESPN). The 89th-minute goal came from open play, not a second penalty.

What happens next: Sporting are third in the league with 18 points, unbeaten after eight games (five wins, three draws), six behind leaders Porto. Académico de Viseu, fifth with 14 points, visit Alvalade on Sunday 25 October at 20:30 in Lisbon. In the Champions League Sporting stay on 6 points from three games, 12th in the table.