Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon: 2016 Champions League Match Score and Reaction

Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata came to the rescue to help Real Madrid earn a 2-1 win against Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League group stage on Wednesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Bruno Cesar opened the scoring for Sporting in the 47th minute, but Ronaldo leveled the match with a goal off a free kick in the 89th minute.

His shot barely curled inside the right post to tie the match at 1-1, as Fox Soccer showed:

Then, with essentially the final kick of the game, Morata delivered the winner in the 94th minute. Madrid had been crossing into the 18-yard box with increasing effectiveness in the second half, and the constant barrage slowly wore down the Sporting back four.

Morata leaped up to meet James Rodriguez's cross from the left, and he powered a header into the back of the net off a diving Rui Patricio.

Fox Soccer shared a replay of the injury-time tally:

Despite the win, Real Madrid was unconvincing across the full match.

Ronaldo was making just his second appearance of the year across all club competitions. He missed all of the preseason and the start of the 2016-17 LaLiga campaign while recovering from the knee injury he suffered in the Euro 2016 final.

The Portugal international played for 65 minutes in Madrid's 5-2 win over Osasuna on Sept. 10 but still looked to be getting back to match fitness in the first half against Sporting.

Spanish football writer Dermot Corrigan highlighted one moment that encapsulated Ronaldo's night:

He was far from the only anonymous Madrid player in the opening 45 minutes, though. Sporting has allowed one goal in its first four league matches, and the stellar defense was on show Wednesday. The team limited Madrid to five total shots and three shots on target in the first half.

Real Madrid's best scoring chance came on a speculative effort by Ronaldo in the 27th minute. He unleashed a right-footed shot from about 30 yards out that was headed for the top-right corner but didn't pose much danger to goalkeeper Patricio, who knocked it out for a corner kick.

Sporting manager Jorge Jesus had identified the right flank as a potential soft spot for Madrid. Wide midfielder Gelson Martins and right back Joao Pereira tested left back Marcelo often, and the strategy nearly paid immediate dividends.

In the ninth minute, Martins capitalized on an errant pass by Sergio Ramos before putting his shot on goal. Kiko Casilla made the save, but the attacking move illustrated the danger Martins and Pereira posed.

PortuGOAL.net's Tom Kundert jokingly worried that Martins might have been making too big of an impression on the Spanish giants:

Sporting was the stronger side in the first half, and that trend continued into the second half, with Cesar putting the visitors ahead three minutes after halftime. After his first attempt was denied, Bryan Ruiz poked it ahead to the Brazilian forward, whose shot rolled inside the bottom-left post and past a diving Casilla.

Fox Soccer shared a replay of the goal:

According to WhoScored.com, the 27-year-old was the first visiting player to score a Champions League goal against Real Madrid since May 2015. Sporting's English-language Twitter account couldn't contain its excitement with the club going up 1-0:

In the 67th minute, Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane brought on Lucas Vazquez for Gareth Bale, and he replaced Karim Benzema with Morata a minute later. The two substitutions coincided with a promising stretch for the hosts.

The club tested Patricio more than it had for the majority of the match but still couldn't find the breakthrough.

Ronaldo should've leveled the match in the 83rd minute. Sporting failed to deal with a Dani Carvajal cross from the right, and the ball fell to an open Ronaldo at the left post. His left-footed volley from close range caromed off the post, however.

It looked like Madrid would have to settle for a 1-0 home defeat until Ronaldo and Morata's heroics in the final minutes.

Jesus will be frustrated with the result, and he'll have some questions to answer after the match. Sporting was less dangerous after Martins was substituted off in the 70th minute. The removal of Adrien Silva also made things easier for Madrid in the center of the pitch.

Jesus had already been sent off by that point in the match, though, after arguing with the assistant referee, so the substitutions may not have been made under his orders.

Losing to Madrid to open the Champions League isn't a disaster for Sporting, but it will be disappointed with dropping three points so late.

Meanwhile, Zidane will be satisfied to get the victory but less satisfied with the overall performance. Madrid will get better as Ronaldo returns to 100 percent. Still, Benzema's poor performance and the European champions' struggles with Martins down the right will be areas of concern.

Sporting has a great opportunity to rebound with Legia Warsaw ahead in its next Champions League match, and the most anticipated fixture from Group B, Borussia Dortmund vs. Real Madrid, looms ahead in Matchday 2.

Post-Match Reaction

"We are happy because we kept going until the end, we didn't give up," Zidane said after the match, per Goal's Tom Webber. "Sometimes you meet an opponent who play very well but our players were tremendous, they made an enormous effort and they got their just reward."

The manager was also pleased with the way his second-half changes reaped big rewards, per Spanish paper AS: "Tonight we got the substitutions right and I'm delighted; when you make changes it's to solve something and it paid off. I'm delighted with the players."

Jesus wasn't entirely distraught with the loss, per BBC Sport: "No side will play here in Madrid as well as we have done. Real didn't have a single chance in the first half, but there's a reason they're European champions. They have that mentality and reputation and changed the game in two minutes."