He may be approaching his 29th birthday, but Juan Mata is still achieving new things.
Admittedly, scoring the first own goal of his professional career probably wasn’t too high up on the Spaniard’s list, but sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth.
The Manchester United man put through his own net just 20 minutes into the club’s Premier League match at Stoke, giving Mark Hughes’ team an early lead.
https://twitter.com/NoLaughingMata/status/822827208985235457
And it got worse for Mata before it got better, with the former Chelsea man missing the target from close range when he really should have scored.
What a miss. Pogba releases Ibrahimovic, who rolls it across for Mata. Open goal, six yards out. Over the bar.
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) January 21, 2017
Mata is having a Pogba vs Liverpool here
— abhay (@ab5y) January 21, 2017
Now, it’s always been said that you should be nice to people on your way up, so they’ll be nice to you when you’re on your way down.
Mata has certainly lived up to that, with some lovely gestures throughout his playing career (not to mention that lovely little blog where he signs off with ‘hugs’). Really, how can you not feel for the guy?
And he has clearly earned himself plenty of sympathy, as the reaction to his nightmare of a first half demonstrated.
Own goal.. I feel so bad for Mata.
— Pascalifornia (@Pascalville) January 21, 2017
Ohhhh Mata skies it from 2 yards, can't help but feel sorry for him #STKMUN
— Dan (@DanielMcclue) January 21, 2017
Oh no I feel bad for Mata man what was that …
— Hassan (@itshassanEM) January 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/gbuf_se/status/822830255211679744
I feel sorry for Mata, quality player
— Hamse (@HamseTweets) January 21, 2017
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