Gzira United’s goalkeeper experienced what must be a shot stopper’s worst penalty shootout nightmare during his club’s Europa Conference League fixture on Thursday night.
Gzira faced Northern Irish side Glentoran in the first qualification round of the Europa Conference League on Thursday. It was the second time the two clubs had met in the space of a week: the first leg fixture, played in Malta, ended in a 2-2 stalemate, meaning that it was all to play for last night.
The match started with drama, with Glentoran’s Bobby Burns missing a penalty after 18 minutes, and the stalemate remained until the 67th minute when one of Gzira’s Brazilian attackers Macula broke the deadlock in the 67th minute.
As time went on Gzira felt that they had one foot into the next round, but in the 13th minute of injury time it was Burns who popped up with an unlikely equaliser to send the match into extra time.
There were no breakthroughs in the 30 minutes to follow, which meant that a penalty shootout had to separate the two sides.
Both sides however continued to display their parity: every single player of each team scored their penalty – including both goalkeepers – leaving the shootout score at 11-11.
Gzira’s Wilkson slotted home his penalty to put the Maroons 12-11 up, meaning that Glentoran’s Jay Donnelly had to score to keep his team in it.
It was here that Gzira goalkeeper David Cassar with cat-like reflexes flew to his left and saved the penalty – or so he thought.
Cassar wheeled away in celebration while his teammates flooded the pitch – but in the meantime, the ball spun backwards, passed the goal line, and into the back of the net.
Nobody had touched the ball, meaning that it was still in active play, and that the goal was given, leaving the Maroons with their heads in their hands and Cassar staring in disbelief.
TVM Sport's Sandro Micallef, commentating on the match, summed it up as the replay played on screen: "Cassar celebrated too early... observe the ball... this is a shot that you will keep seeing for many, many years to come, and my reaction probably confirms that."
As luck would have it, the episode didn’t have an impact on the final result: Cassar would ensure that he had the final say on the matter two penalties later as he saved 17-year-old Leon Boyd’s penalty down to his left again to ensure a 14-13 shootout win - which is the longest shootout ever for a European club competition.
And when he did save it, he made sure to look over his shoulder to see the ball heading straight out towards the corner flag: once bitten, twice shy.
Footage: TVM Sport