Darren Bent’s beach ball goal will live long in the memory of football fans far and wide – and it’s something the former Sunderland striker will never forget himself.
Against all the odds the Black Cats secured a stunning 1-0 victory over the Reds on October 17, 2009 – and in the most fortuitous of circumstances.
getty
Bent’s shot was heading straight into Pepe Reina’s gloves, but incredibly the ball struck a beach ball that had been thrown onto the pitch, which diverted it past the baffled Spaniard to win the contest.
Discussing the incident on talkSPORT Breakfast, the former England striker said: “People try and say I only scored 105 goals because of the beachball – which I don’t like.
“That’s the only one they remember. People go ‘oh you’re the geezer who scored the beach ball goal’.”
Bent, who scored 106 goals in 276 top-flight appearances, says he is constantly reminded about that incredible moment – the latest incident of which came on Monday night.
“I was on zoom call speaking to a group called zoom ballers,” Bent said. “I was answering questions from 200 kids on the call, and I knew at some stage that question was going to come up.
“So Darren ‘you were the guy who scored the beach ball goal… how did it feel?’ It’s such a difficult question to answer.”
talkSPORT
But what if VAR was around in those days? To be fair, as Bent admitted himself, the goal should not have stood even back then!
Bent explained: “Imagine if there was VAR around then? it would be chalked off. That would be annoying!
“If a goal is scored when the ball comes off an outside interference then it shouldn’t count, should it? That was the rules back then.”
Speaking back in 2019, former Reds full-back Glen Johnson – who was the man behind the ball when Bent took his shot – admitted he was taken aback by the freak goal.
“It was a weak shot,” Johnson told talkSPORT. “I was straight down the line of it, so I stuck my foot out to routinely block the shot.
“I was in line with it, so I knew I wouldn’t miss it, but all of a sudden I didn’t touch the ball.
“I’m looking around and the first thing I saw with a beach ball in the air, but I didn’t realise it had hit that at the time. It was a one of those crazy moments. It was madness.”
from Football - news, transfers, fixtures, scores, pictures https://ift.tt/3sm4faI
via IFTTT
No Comment