Last updated on .From the section European Football

Sebastian Coates was shown a red card in injury time as Sporting Lisbon were beaten by Rio Ave

Conceding three penalties and being sent off sounds like a defender's nightmare, but that was reality for Sporting Lisbon's Sebastian Coates in defeat by Rio Ave on Saturday.

The former Liverpool centre-back was walking a tightrope from the sixth minute when he was booked for bringing down Mehdi Taremi in the area.

Filipe Augusto scored the penalty to put Rio Ave ahead, before goals from Bruno Fernandez and Luiz Phellype gave Sporting the lead and left their Uruguayan defender breathing a sigh of relief.

But with four minutes left, Coates' evening really went downhill.

First, and a little unfortunately, he gave away a second penalty as Taremi fell over with minimal contact, then the 28-year-old was shown a second yellow in injury time when he slid in on the same player to concede a third penalty.

The result saw Sporting drop to third in the Primeira Liga, three points behind leaders Famalicao.