Swansea City’s Bersant Celina suffered a penalty nightmare against West Bromwich Albion as his effort trickled just two yards from the spot after an apparent attempt at a cheeky chip backfired.
As Barcelona great Lionel Messi was slotting in Panenka penalties over at the Nou Camp in the Champions League, Celina appeared to fancy some of that himself in England’s second-tier Championship.
With his team 1-0 down heading towards half-time, Kosovan Celina had the chance to level things up from the spot.
But things went disastrously wrong for the 22-year-old as he attempted a short, sharp run-up before slipping as he kicked the ball, sending it just two yards to his right.
Celina pointed to the pitch to claim mitigating circumstances for the shocking miss, but he made life difficult for as his run-up indicated he had been attempting a cheeky Panenka chip – earning himself little sympathy on social media.
Perhaps inevitably given the current political chaos in the UK at present, some chimed in with a Brexit reference…
Other Twitter users thought the ball had actually gone backwards, while some simply described it as the “worst pen in football history."
Celina’s miss brought to mind various penalty shockers from down the years, but perhaps most closely resembled Chelsea captain John Terry’s famous slip-up in the Champions League shootout against Manchester United in Moscow in 2008.
At least JT on that occasion really did have the excuse of torrential rain and a sodden Luzhniki pitch.
The Swansea City man's fail proved costly as West Brom added to Chris Brunt's opener when Mason Holgate doubled their lead in the 54th minute, before Jay Rodriguez completed a comfortable night for the Baggies five minutes from time.
The win kept West Brom fourth, nine points off automatic promotion spots but safely in the playoff places.
Swansea meanwhile sit 15th, 11 points clear of the relegation zone but out of contention for the playoffs.
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