Turkey defender Samet Akaydin scored a disastrous own goal against Portugal after passing the ball beyond goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and into his own net at Euro 2024 on Saturday.
Roberto Martinez’s side, who took the lead through Bernardo Silva in the 21st minute, were handed an absolute gift to go two goals in front in Dortmund,
after Akaydin’s no-look back pass rolled past Man United stopper Bayindir.
The goal was so unexpected that cameras had panned to Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo, assuming Akaydin would deal with the danger comfortably,
and quickly switched back to see Bayindir and Zeki Celik charge back to the goal line in an effort to save the calamitous error.
Unfortunately for United’s Bayindir, he was unable to prevent the ball crossing the line and, afterwards, stood bewildered as he argued with team-mates.
Fans piled in on social media to react to the disastrous error, with many supporters seeing the amusing side.
One said, finishing his post with a laughing emoji: ‘That own goal was so funny.’
A second posted on X, making reference to a video of Ainsley Maitland-Niles scoring an own-goal during his days at Arsenal, directed blame at Bayindir and said: ‘Who told him to come off his line brev?’
Another added, perhaps a little more sympathetically: ‘What a crazy mistake.’
One account opted to post a series of ‘laughing emojis’ as they responded to a clip of the defensive mishap on X.
Turkey’s fortunes went from bad to worse in the second-half after another bit of lackadaisical defending allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to run in on goal, before he squared it for Bruno Fernandes to make it 3-0.
Earlier in the match, Portugal star Ronaldo rolled back the years after easing past a defender with his iconic step overs.
The 39-year-old first made a name for himself by producing silky skills but has unsurprisingly slowed down in recent years.
However, he was back at it once again against Turkey as he dropped defender Abduelkerim Bardakci to the ground with step overs before delivering a cross to Rafael Leao.
Portugal maintained their lead to win the match 3-0 and in turn secured their place in the last-16 of Euro 2024.
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Source: USA Today
