5 Biggest Blunders in World Football This Weekend of Dec. 5-7
The weekend of world football was once more packed with incident, both sublime and shocking, as European leagues took another step toward a winter break (or an extended fixture list) and plenty of the top leagues around continental America drew toward a close.
We've rounded up the biggest mistakes, errors and most idiotic behaviour for your Monday morning amusement—unless one of your team's players happens to feature!
This time around, we're looking at everything from horrendous misses to combinations of multiple individuals creating havoc at the same time.
Guglielmo Stendardo
1 of 5
We'll start with one of the worst misses of the season, from Serie A and Atalanta, where defender Guglielmo Stendardo scored one goal but completely fluffed his lines for the chances of a second.
Latching onto a rebound from all of a yard out, Stendardo just had to knock the ball in—but he stabbed his effort right across the face of goal instead.
Watch the shocking miss here.
Fabianski/Sakho
2 of 5
There were all kinds of shenanigans going on here.
West Ham United forward Diafra Sakho ran through on goal, beating the defender, but he was then very slightly chest-bumped by Swansea City goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who had made an ill-judged rush from goal.
Despite the contact, Sakho continued his run—only to then miss his shot with nobody to beat.
The madness wasn't over there, though.
Referee Chris Foy pulled play back for a foul by Fabianski, and he sent the stopper off, despite the advantage clearly having been played.
As if all that wasn't enough, Sakho also handled the ball prior to the chance, which wasn't spotted.
Watch the incident here.
Kyle Lafferty
3 of 5
Even professional footballers can sometimes be made to look totally amateurish by something as simple and straightforward as losing their footing.
So, without further preamble, may we present to you Norwich City's Kyle Lafferty and the most Sunday-League-esque free-kick of the season!
Watch it here.
Pepe and Illarra
4 of 5
Real Madrid are on a phenomenal run of 18 consecutive wins in all competitions.
It's not perfect, free-flowing, error-free football, though. They're really good, but the silly and the ludicrous still sometimes happens.
They do have Iker Casillas, after all.
Their most recent win over Celta Vigo came with a moment of hilarity, too, as defender Pepe managed to punch team-mate Asier Illarramendi.
Midfielder Illarra made a clumsy foul on a forward, pushing him over into Pepe, who in turn was tumbled to the ground by the opponent.
Pepe stretched out his arms as he fell, promptly whacking Illarra, who also ended up on the ground, across the face.
Watch the three-man tumble here.
AJ Soares
5 of 5
The MLS Cup was won by LA Galaxy on Sunday night, beating New England Revolution after extra time.
During the match, AJ Soares became fed up with what he perceived to be an effort to waste time by rival goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, dragging him back to his feet.
He obviously didn't mind wasting a few extra seconds, though, as he then decided to shove him back to ground!
Watch the incident here.
