Greatest Own Goals of All-Time No.30
Today’s article is the final part of this series about own goals. I feel that it is time to move on and find a new subject matter that will hopefully be of interest.
When thinking of what own goal to use for this final article, I decided that it must be unique and also sensational.
However, I couldn’t think of one that fits into both of these categories and hasn’t featured yet so I decided to break with the norm. Instead of featuring one own goal, I’d go for three. They would all be scored by the same team and in the same half.
On 1st February 2003, Sunderland hosted Charlton Athletic at their Stadium of Light home. The game would go down in Sunderland folklore because they would score an incredible three own goals in a crazy seven-minute spell between the 24th and 31st minute of the game.
Sunderland’s misery began in the 24th minute. Charlton’s Claus Jensen whipped in a corner from the right and the ball pinged about in the box. Mark Fish finally sliced a shot towards the Sunderland goal, hitting two defenders before bouncing over the line. The final touch came off full-back Stephen Wright.
Five minutes later, Michael Proctor added his name on the wrong side of the scoresheet by diverting the ball past goalkeeper Thomas Sorenson.
Chris Powell ran through the Sunderland defence and hit a low shot at goal. Sorenson pushed the ball away with his legs but the ball hit Proctor and rolled agonisingly into the back of the net.
Proctor scored his second own goal just three minutes later, turning his back on another corner from Claus Jensen. The ball had gone through a crowd of seven players before bouncing off Proctor’s back and past Sorenson. The whole situation had turned into a terrible nightmare for Sunderland and Charlton couldn’t believe their luck!
Sunderland’s 2002/03 season was a wretched one for their fans. They were treated to abject football from a very poor team that only won four of their 38 league games that season.
The Charlton match was Sunderland’s third defeat in a row. They would go on to lose the next twelve games, a record that still stands to this day.
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