Matchday two of the UEFA Champions League league phase witnessed two historic nights, as Saud Abdulhamid became the first Saudi player to feature in the competition, coinciding with Azerbaijani side Sabah securing their first-ever victory in the tournament proper.
Saud started at right-back for Lens against Sporting CP at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, though he could not prevent the French side from falling to a 2-0 defeat against the Portuguese visitors.
Luis Suárez opened the scoring for Sporting in the 22nd minute before Issa Doumbia added the second in the 74th minute, despite Lens dominating the attacking statistics by firing 17 shots compared to the visitors’ 10.
Sporting moved onto 6 points to provisionally top the standings with a perfect record, scoring 5 goals and conceding 1, while Lens remained on 3 points with a minus-one goal difference following their opening-match 3-2 win over Slavia Prague.
Saud became the first Saudi player to appear in the Champions League, adding another milestone to a career that previously saw him become the first Saudi to play in Serie A and the first to score in a European club competition.
In the second fixture, Sabah achieved their first-ever victory in the competition’s league phase by defeating Slavia Prague 2-0.
Kaheem Parris broke the deadlock in the 49th minute to become the first player to score for Sabah in the Champions League main tournament, before Joy Lance Mickels sealed the victory with a second goal in the 88th minute.
Sabah, founded in 2017 and participating in the Champions League for the first time, claimed their historic first 3 points following an opening 4-0 defeat to Manchester United, bringing their goal difference to two scored and four conceded.
