It was the 40th minute of the AFC Cup match between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Maziya S&RC. MBSG received a penalty when Armando Sadiku was fouled inside the box. Mohun Bagan were leading by a goal at the time. Jason Cummins stepped up to take the kick, only to pass it sideways to incoming Dimitri Petratos who couldn’t reach the ball in time. The attempt reminded viewers of the Messi-Suarez combo who scored a similar goal in 2016.
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As Cummins went to take the spot kick, the home crowd prepared to celebrate their team’s second goal. Cummins however delivered a moment worth talking about for days in the Indian football circuit. He tried to set up Dimitri Petratos by a side pass from the spot.
A Maziya defender quickly closed Petratos down. The Australian was tackled at the right time as the ball went for a goal kick.
To make matters worse, Maziya scored to equalise just five minutes later, adding to the woes of the Mariners.
European football followers will be familiar with this penalty tactic. After all, who can forget Luiz Surarez’ goal for Barcelona against Celta Vigo in 2016? Lionel Messi had stepped up to take the penalty in that match. Luiz Suarez was on a hattrick. LM10 tapped the ball after the run up and Suarez came from behind to slot the ball in the open net.
We won’t know if that Barcelona set-piece played a part in Cummins’ decision to pass the ball to Petratos. But the big difference in two situations was no Celta Vigo defender was alert enough to close down Suarez.
Cummins’ run can also be held responsible for the fiasco. The Scot seemed to have gathered no momentum in the run-up to the penalty. His movement coupled with Petratos’ full-steam run may have led the Maziya defence to predict the move.
This is not the first time an outrageous attempt like this has failed to bore fruit. Arsenal had a similar similar experience against Manchester City at Highbury in 2005. Robert Pires and Thierry Henry failed miserably in a similar attempt to score.
