Iconic Moments In Football No.10
Massimo Taibi makes a name for himself for the wrong reason!
Massimo Taibi looks up after letting in a soft goal against Southampton
It can be tough being a goalkeeper. Everyone will remember your mistakes and not remember the clean sheets or great saves.
Sadly for Massimo Taibi, the former Manchester United goalkeeper, today’s ‘Iconic Moment In Football’ is his howler against Southampton in the 99/00 season.
Taibi was brought in as cover by Alex Ferguson after injuries to Mark Bosnich and Raimond van der Gouw, Manchester United’s top two goalkeepers at the time.
The Italian hadn’t played outside of his native country before and he made his United debut at Anfield against fierce rivals Liverpool. He put in a good performance and was awarded the man of the match.
Next up for Manchester United was a home game where they were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw. Taibi was in goal again that day having kept the goalkeepers jersey following his performance at Anfield the week prior.
Southampton were the visitors at Old Trafford a week after the Wimbledon match and Taibi made his third appearance in United colours.
The visitors surprisingly took the lead through Marian Pahars but two quick goals from Teddy Sheringham and Dwight Yorke gave United a 2-1 lead.
Then came the moment that will surely still haunt Massimo Taibi to this day.
Southampton’s Matt Le Tissier got the ball about 30 yards out from goal, took a couple of touches before hitting a low shot at goal.
The shot didn’t look as if it would bother Taibi at all as it rolled across the Old Trafford pitch towards him. He crouched down onto his knees and lent forward to collect the ball.
Somehow he managed to let the ball squirm under his body and between his legs and it rolled agonisingly over the line into the back of the United net behind the Italian.
A collective groan went out around Old Trafford apart from the couple of thousand Southampton fans who celebrated Taibi’s moment of embarrassment. He checked the studs on the bottom of his boots, almost trying to use them as an excuse for the calamitous fumble!
Massimo Taibi’s moment of shame
Dwight Yorke scored again to give Manchester United the lead before Matt Le Tissier also got his second of the game to get the score to 3-3. That was how it remained until the final whistle but the game will always be remembered for Massimo Taibi’s error.
Massimo Taibi would only play for Manchester United once more and that was in their next game away to Chelsea. United lost the game comprehensively 5-0 and Taibi disappeared off the radar for a couple of months.
The goalkeeper was given the opportunity to join Reggiana of Italy on loan until the end of the season and he joined them until the end of the season. The Italian club made the move permanent as soon as the loan deal expired.
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