Carragher’s double against Manchester United
We all have a bad day at the office sometimes, but having one that benefits your arch rivals is an even less pleasant experience. That was what happened to Jamie Carragher in 1999, when he turned into Liverpool’s net twice in a 3-2 defeat against Manchester United.
His first own goal game just three minutes in, glancing home Ryan Giggs’ cross, and he was also in the unfortunate place in the box in the 44th minute as Rigobert Song tried to clear a David Beckham free-kick and the ball bounced off Carragher and in.
For Manchester United fans, it was a comedy sequence of events that Carragher has said he is still often reminded of to this day.
Gerrard’s slip
At least in those cases, there wasn’t a league title on the line, unlike when Steven Gerrard infamously slipped at Anfield on 27th April 2014 in an ill-fated and haunting moment for the Liverpool legend.
Jaws dropped in front of TVs around the world as Premier League title-chasing Liverpool’s captain suddenly and inexplicably lost his footing, fell over, and allowed Chelsea’s Demba Ba the simplest of opening goals for Chelsea, in a pivotal game that the London club would go on to win 2-0, ending a 16-game unbeaten run for Liverpool.
As a result, Manchester City instead grabbed the upper hand in that season’s title race and Gerrard’s playing career ended without him lifting the Premier League trophy.
Karius’ Champions League final calamity
Once again proving that Moore certainly does not walk alone among Liverpool players to experience some of the sport’s most unfortunate moments, who could forget goalkeeper Loris Karius’ howler on the biggest club stage of all, in the 2018 Champions League final.
Much to the dismay of Liverpool fans, Karius threw a clearance straight to Karim Benzema for Real Madrid’s opening goal, and 13 minutes later he fumbled a Gareth Bale strike to let in the Spanish side’s second. It later transpired that the German had been concussed during the match in Kiev on 26 May 2018, according to doctors.
There was nothing he could have done about Bale’s second, though, an overhead kick that remains one of the very best goals ever scored in a major final, as Real won 3-1.
Mendes’ horror goal kick
But when it comes to own goals, Moore’s were nothing compared to the staggering, wind-assisted strike at the wrong end from Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper Assfa Mendes in 2012.
The Israeli team’s goalkeeper was taking a routine kick upfield in a friendly against Dynamo Kiev and attempted to punt the ball high towards the half-way line.
Unfortunately for Mendes, excessively strong winds caught hold of the ball and it came hurtling back towards his own goal, bounced straight past him and in, giving Dynamo Kiev one of the most ridiculous and crazy goals we’ve seen.
Just like with those gale-force winds, the current storm for Moore will eventually pass. The former Duisburg and Koln defender, born in Christchurch and affectionately nicknamed ‘Mouse’, is a popular figure within the Liverpool camp. She will simply want to forget all about 20th February 2022 as quickly as possible.
Spare a thought for Meikayla Moore, who has gone viral for reasons no footballer would ever wish to endure after scoring three own goals in the space of 31 first-half minutes in Sunday’s 5-0 loss for her New Zealand side against the United States. Unfortunately for the Liverpool defender, as she wakes up in California on Monday, it wasn’t just a bad dream.
Incredibly, it was the ‘perfect’ hat-trick of own goals – right foot, left foot and header – from three separate attempts to block or clear crosses from the world champions the USA, in one of the most bizarre and unfortunate halves imaginable. However, the 25-year-old is by no means alone when it comes to having a calamitous game and finding herself in the morning news bulletins.
A 50-times capped international defender who is on course to win promotion to the Women’s Super League with Liverpool this season, Moore is tough enough to put the experience behind her, and modern football history tells us it can happen to anyone in the game.
Woodgate’s disastrous Real Madrid debut
At least Moore has already had nine years playing with this New Zealand senior side to build a strong reputation with her team-mates and the ‘Football Ferns’ fans. That wasn’t quite the case for former England defender Jonathan Woodgate, who experienced a truly torrid game on his competitive debut for Real Madrid in September 2005.
Having signed for the Spanish club for £13.4m from Newcastle in 2004 but having been forced to wait more than a year for his first competitive appearance in Real Madrid white because of injury, his long-awaited introduction to the Bernabeu crowd saw him not only score an own goal but also be sent off for two bookable offences.
The former Leeds United defender headed into his own net quite beautifully in the first half, before being given his marching orders in the 64th minute. Offering little consolation to a mortified Woodgate, his new team still fought back to win 3-1.