It would have been two of the most horrified moments for Stoke’s striker Jonathan Walters who ‘indirectly’ helped Chelsea in attaining a crushing victory over Stoke City on Saturday. Jonathan Walters was the player who not only missed a penalty kick but he also scored two goals in his own net: one just before the halftime and second in the 62 minute. The 29 year old striker, who has scored seven perfect goals this season, could not add more to his counting despite his good performance. This victory helped Chelsea in gaining the third spot in the EPL leaderboard right after Manchester United and Manchester City. Moreover, it is very close to second place holder: City who has 45 points out of its 21 played matches while Chelsea is just 4 points behind of it. Regardless of scoring two own goals, Walters has received support from his manager Tony Pulis who looks in no mood in penalizing his play; perhaps he praises his brave affords which could not be successful. Manager said, “We all have bad days. He had a bad day in terms of things not going his way but he was still brave enough to pick the ball up and take the penalty, which is what he is all about.”
He added, “This football club looks after its players.
“He doesn’t have to worry at all, irrespective of what people say outside the place – the place is a good football club. We treat it as a family and Jon will be fine.”
Moreover, he is not the first player to lead the hall of shame; there have been many players over the past who fired the ball in their own nets. One recent example is former Chelsea and Leeds defender Michael Duberry who scored two own goals when playing against Hereford. Though, he equalized the missed goal in the last minute. Another amazing example of rewarding opponent a win is Chris Nicholl of Aston Villa who scored four own goals in 1976 when playing at Leicester, while Den Haag scored three own goals in one half when playing a UEFA Cup game at Wolves in 1971.
There has been one more example which is more a protest than a mistake where Madagascan club side Antananarivo once fired a record number of 149 own goals in protest of a referee’s decision. So, at least for now, Walters needs not worry about his mistake as his manager is in his support, however, he must take care of these things in the future.