As was the case in Saturday’s drawn game with Sevilla, Regis Le Bris fielded two almost completely different teams for each 45 minutes against a Sporting side that were crowned Primeira Liga champions last season.
Sunderland’s first-half line-up was significantly stronger than the team that played after the break, with summer signings Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra all featuring in the starting side.
Sporting scored the only goal of the game 11 minutes in, with Conrad Harder rounding Blondy Nna Noukeu before squaring for Francisco Trincao to hook home.
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The Black Cats were the better side for much of the remainder of the first half though, with Jenson Seelt impressing with his distribution from the heart of the back four and Eliezer Mayenda posing a considerable threat up front.
Mayenda saw a decent effort deflect over the top, but should probably have done better midway through the first half when he failed to find the target following a cross from Enzo Le Fee.
Sunderland’s second-half line-up was more of a makeshift affair, and the Black Cats spent most of the second period on the back foot.
Zak Johnson made an important block to help prevent Sporting from extending their lead, but Sunderland’s youngsters made a decent job of containing their more experienced opponents.
Having played two games in the space of three days, Sunderland’s players will now return to Wearside before travelling to Edinburgh on Saturday to face Hearts at Tynecastle.
SUNDERLAND: Nna Noukeu (Young 73), Hume (Lavery 46), Ballard (Triantis 46), Seelt (Johnson 46), H Jones (J Jones 46), Talbi (Roberts 46), Diarra (Browne 46), Sadiki (Neil 46), Adingra (Aleksic 46), Le Fee (Abdullahi 46 (Ogunsuyi 77)), Mayenda (Tutierov 46).