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Pepe Reina Is Still Not Over The Sunderland Beach Ball Incident, Nine Years Later

Pepe Reina Is Still Not Over The Sunderland Beach Ball Incident, Nine Years Later

He's posted on Twitter about the moment.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Nine years ago to the day, Darren Bent hit a fairly tame effort in the Liverpool penalty area. But this wasn't just any effort.

Rather hilariously, the ball cannoned of a beach ball that had made its way onto the pitch and the actual ball managed to route Pepe Reina to his spot.

The beach ball, which belonged to a Liverpool supporter, totally changed the direction of the ball and left Reina helpless between the sticks.



Liverpool players complained as expected but referee Mike Jones waved away any protests and the goal stood.

Going by the rulebook, the goal probably shouldn't have stood, but then we would've missed out on one of the craziest moments in Premier League history.

As it does every year, the moment has been doing the rounds on social media, and after nine years, we've finally heard the thoughts of Pepe Reina, the man who watched this beach ball ruin his day.

After the incident, former referee Jeff Winter said the decision to allow this goal was 'amazing' for all the wrong reasons:

"I'm absolutely amazed. It is basic law in football. The goal should just not have stood. The laws of the game state that if there's an outside interference the game has to be stopped.

"Talk about an outside influence - the ball went in off the beach ball and completely deceived the Liverpool goalkeeper.

"I am absolutely amazed that for a referee at that level of football, that between him, his assistant, the fourth official, they didn't see what had happened and give the correct decision."

What a moment it was.

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Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Football, Sunderland, Premier League