BLACKBURN Rovers became the latest victims of the recent renaissance in Portuguese football as Marius Niculae's opportunist second half strike proved decisive at Ewood Park last night.

The Romanian international grabbed the winner within seconds of climbing off the substitutes' bench to condemn Rovers to their first defeat of this pre-season campaign.

And the visitors probably just about deserved their victory in the end after looking the sharper of the two sides for the majority of the second half.

Graeme Souness had anticipated a stern examination from a classy Sporting side who won the Newcastle and Gateshead Cup earlier in the week and that's exactly what transpired as Rovers were made to work against slick opponents who boasted two Brazilian internationals in their starting line-up.

Unlike Chievo last summer, Sporting were eager to impress and a breezy performance reflected the feel-good factor which is currently sweeping through the Portuguese game in the wake of the national team's march to the final of Euro 2004 and Porto's success in the Champions League.

With 10 days to go before the start of the Premiership, it's around this time that managers look to do any last minute fine-tuning, and Souness left Ewood with plenty of food for thought after what was his side's most rigorous work-out so far.

Once again, Dominic Matteo underlined his value to the squad with another accomplished performance, this time alongside Craig Short at the heart of the defence.

Already in his fledgling Rovers career, the former Liverpool star has proved he's adept at filling a number of different roles, including central midfield, left midfield and centre back.

Such versatility is worth its weight in gold and Matteo's performances have been one of the biggest pluses to come out of the friendlies so far.

Fans also got their first glimpse of new Spanish winger Javier De Pedro who, Souness hopes, will add silk to Matteo's steel.

The former Real Sociedad star is not a wide-man in the Damien Duff mould.

For instance, the 30-year-old is rarely going to beat anyone for pace and he still looks some way short of full match fitness but what he does seem to have is vision and a sharp brain, which can be a deadly combination in themselves.

He's the type of player who likes to drift inside and he produced the pass of the match from one such foray in the first half, only for Lucas Neill to drag his shot hopelessly wide.

The one slight cause for concern at the moment is the potential lack of goals.

After scoring eight against SG Schorndorf in the opening game of the German tour, the flood has turned into a trickle.

But Saturday's meeting with Bray in Ireland may see Rovers' luck change.

Sporting started brightly as Paulo Sergio fired an early shot wide and a free kick from Tello tested Peter Enckelman's reflexes.

But Rovers soon began to settle and Dwight Yorke's diving header was brilliantly parried by Ricardo.

The Lisbon keeper then tipped a Jon Stead snap-shot onto the bar and the same player also went close with a header from a De Pedro corner.

The best chance of the half fell to Neill in the 29th minute but the Aussie failed to hit the target after racing onto De Pedro's exquisite through-ball.

Lisbon snatched the lead in the opening minute of the second half.

Paito crossed from the left, Enckelman and Matteo hesitated, and Niculae - who had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds - gobbled up the chance with a neat finish.

After that, Rovers began to run out of steam, although Stead and the fit-again David Thompson both had chances to equalise.

In the closing stages, though, Enckelman had to make saves from Douala and Moutinho as Lisbon threatened a second.

ROVERS: Enckelman, Neill, Gray, Gresko, Short, Matteo, Flitcroft, Ferguson, Stead, Yorke, De Pedro. Subs: Dickov (for Yorke, 66), Thompson (for Flitcroft, 66), Tugay (for Gray, 73), Emerton (for De Pedro, 80) Not used: Amoruso, Johansson, Yelldell

SPORTING: Ricardo, Hugo, Tello, Garcia, Douala, Paito, Veloso, Sergio, Saleiro, Rogerio, Tinga. Subs: Tiago (for Ricardo, 46), Niculae (for Saleiro, 46), Jorge (for Garcia, 46), Polga (for Sergio, 67), Moutinho (for Tello, 67), Yannick (for Paito, 87)

Att: 6,589