Chelsea loanee Malang Sarr scores extraordinary own goal for Monaco

Chelsea loanee Malang Sarr found himself on the end of the one of the most bizarre own goals in Europa League history on Thursday night during Monaco’s clash with Trabzonspor. Sarr joined Chelsea back in 2020 before being loaned out for the season to Porto.

He opted to remain at Stamford Bridge the following year to try and force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s plans. But it soon became clear the Frenchman was far down the pecking order at Chelsea and he was subsequently loaned to Monaco with an option for the Ligue 1 side to make that move permanent for just £10million next summer.

He’s had a stop-start to his career with Monaco though, starting just two league games. Sarr has found some minutes in Europe, although his first game against Ferencvaros ended in defeat for Monaco.

And the 23-year-old was on the losing side again on Thursday evening against Trabzonspor. But Sarr was helpless to prevent the Turkish side from opening the scoring in bizarre circumstances.

Monaco goalkeeper Alexander Nubel had the ball at his feet and was under no pressure at all as the first half was coming to a close. Sarr started running out wide to show himself to receive the ball.

But Nubel clearly hadn’t seen his team-mate run back into the box as the Monaco goalkeeper tried to play a pass to Caio Henrique. The resulting pass smashed into Sarr, who couldn’t react quick enough to get out of the way.

And to add insult to injury even further, the ball ricocheted off his side and into the back of the net to give Trabzonspor the lead. Not even the Turkish side knew how to celebrate their fortunate opener while Sarr was left shellshocked.

The French centre-back immediately reacted by holding his hands on his knees before taking a quick glance over at Nubel. Things went from bad to worse for the Ligue 1 outfit soon after the break when Vitor Hugo doubled Trabzonspor’s lead.

Enis Bardhi and Trezeguet compounded Monaco’s misery even further as Trabzonspor ran out 4-0 winners. The result leaves Monaco with a lot of work to do in their final two group matches to qualify for the knockout stages.

They sit third and level on points with Trabzonspor, but the Turkish side now hold the better head-to-head record due to goal difference.