ASTON VILLA flop Leandro Bacuna scored a comical and DECISIVE own goal which saw his team lose 1-0 late on at Fortuna Sittard.

Bacuna, 33, was captaining Dutch side Groningen who now sit 15th – just outside the Eredivisie relegation zone.

4

4

Advertisement

4

His moment of madness means Groningen have suffered five consecutive defeats after winning promotion last season.

With the score tied 0-0 in the 86th minute, Fortuna Sittard took an in-swinging corner and managed to get a low shot off.

But goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen kept the ball out by pushing it out to left-back Wouter Prins, who was standing at the front post.

With the ball moving fast, Prins could only tap it away centrally towards an incoming Bacuna, who was two yards away from the goal line.

The former Aston Villa star tried to clear it over the bar – but somehow lashed it into his own net even though he was only a yard out.

A devastated Bacuna stood with his head in his hands and held onto the the roof of the net looking shell-shocked.

The unbelievable howler also left his team-mates wrecked, with Prins picking the ball up and booting it in the air in frustration.

After the match, Bacuna said: “I was emotional, went inside and didn’t thank our fans. I’m not happy about that and I apologise. I also have to be there for the team.”

4

FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS

Fans couldn’t believe what they witnessed as they stormed social media stating this might have been the worst own goal this year.

One fan wrote: “Bacuna with an own goal of the year contender.”

Another commented: “Why has he just blasted in????”

While one more said: “That’s really unbelievable. Poor fella. Hard luck in recent times.”

Dutch footie analyst Wim Masker added: “This is really an incomprehensible own goal.”

Fans were quick to call out Bacuna after he was dropped to the bench for oversleeping before their 1-0 defeat to FC Utrecht last week.

To make matters worse, he will miss Groningen’s next match against NEC Nijmegen, after picking up his fifth yellow of the season, for kicking the ball away earlier in the game.

He is the older brother of former Birmingham, Rangers and Huddersfield midfielder Juninho Bacuna, who now plays for Saudi Pro League side Al-Wehda.

Bacuna made more than 130 appearances for Villa and was a regular when they were relegated in 2016, when the club had four different managers.

He often shifted between playing at right-back and central midfield.

During his time in the Prem, Bacuna fell out with the Villa Park supporters during their relegation campaign in 2015-16.

He was once singled out with insults about his baby daughter in fan attack on rock-bottom squad, according to The Mirror.

Bacuna was issued with a three-match suspension for his headbutt on assistant referee Mark Russell in 2017.

How Unai Emery has transformed Aston Villa

By Graeme Bryce

ASTON VILLA suspected they were on to a winner when they enticed four-times Europa League king Unai Emery away from Villarreal in October 2022.

They will certainly never bag a bigger bargain than the £5.2million compensation fee they paid the La Liga side for their Spanish tactical genius.

Emery started the way he meant to continue at Villa, ironically beating Sunday’s opponents Manchester United 3-1 on his debut – to record Villa’s first home Premier League victory over United since August 1995!

Advertisement

And he has continued smashing records and setting new standards ever since, culminating in Wednesday’s incredible win over six-times European champions Bayern Munich.

Emery credits his Basque upbringing for his workaholic nature and he is first into Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training base before 8am every morning – and he is usually the last there, switching the lights off when he leaves around 9pm most nights.

A Villa insider once summed it up by saying: “It’s not unusual for managers to spend long hours at the training ground, chatting to staff, having cups of coffee. Unai is different, he doesn’t do down-time, it’s full on work-mode from the minute he arrives to the minute he leaves.”

On away trips Emery opens his laptop as soon as he boards the team coach and starts analysing his own team’s performance as well as the opposition.

Advertisement

“He will watch all of our games seven or eight times and does the same for our opponents,” says Villa’s Director of Football Operations, Damian Vidagany – one of 23 Spaniards Emery has taken with him to Villa, including the world-famous transfer guru Monchi.

Emery trusts Monchi to supply the talent he needs from £50million record signing Amadou Onana to £8million bargain-buy Morgan Rogers and then he improves them beyond recognition.

Lesser managers would have written hotheaded hitman Jhon Duran off as a troublemaker – cut their losses and flogged him this summer after a series of high-profile PR gaffes.

But Emery was cold and clinical and asked himself one question – does the kid have any worth to me? Once he decided he did, he put an arm round the youngster and talked him through how he would transform him into one of the world’s great strikers.

Advertisement

Now the smile is back on Duran’s face, never more so than after his stunning winner against Bayern, which underlined Emery’s extraordinary man-management skills. 

Training is meticulous and repetitive until players get the drill with the aid of constant video reminders, both collectively and individually, while his army of coaches work tirelessly on improving individual players’ skill-sets and game intelligence with tailor-made sessions.

Against Bayern Emery not only set Villa up brilliantly defensively to frustrate the Bavarian giants, who failed to score for the first time this season. 

He also hammered home over and over again verbally and visually with video clips, Manuel Neuer’s tendency to stray miles off his goal line in his sweeper-keeper role.

Advertisement

Jhon Duran’s first-time finish to send the ball soaring over a stranded Neuer was pure genius – but the seed to try such an outrageous attempt was planted in his head by another genius.

Take a bow, Unai Emery!

A server crash for Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli meant it was unable to provide its usual data for timing screens and broadcast graphics during 2024 Mexican Grand Prix qualifying.

The issue first became apparent when the McLaren drivers who, like their Ferrari rivals, were sent out on medium tyres at Q1’s commencement.

But F1’s broadcast graphics continued to show them as running soft tyres at this stage, while later issues arose with data that is supposed to state if a driver is running new or used tyres.

This is particularly pertinent for qualifying given the drivers regularly try and get through different stages of the session using older tyres so they can enjoy the best grip from new ones for their critical later runs.

When asked what had happened at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by Autosport/Motorsport.com, Pirelli motorsport Mario Isola said: “There was a crash of the system. Basically, the system was not working.

“We didn’t receive the data from the tablet [used to log the tyres each driver is on when leaving the garage], so we didn’t have the data on our server and it was impossible to communicate that to F1.

“We are investigating the reason why we had this issue because it never happened in many years. It’s strange.

Mario Isola, Racing Manager, Pirelli Motorsport, talks to the press

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Advertisement

“Our system that obviously works with Wi-Fi  and other systems that are provided by other companies.

“We need to understand where the issue came from to avoid that it happens [in the Mexican GP on Sunday] and other occasions.

“To be honest, it was strange because it never happened before. We will investigate.”

Pirelli is predicting Sunday’s race to be a one-stop affair, with most drivers stating on the mediums and then finishing the contest on the hards.

But it has not ruled out some drivers trying a contra-strategy of starting on the hards and running as long as possible in the hope of a late safety car.

If this happens, the soft tyre could be an option to get to the end as it will provide extra grip at the restart and does not degrade as badly as when the cars are running full tanks at the start of the race.

Exeter Chiefs overturned a half-time deficit to beat Trailfinders and move to the top of the Premiership Women’s Rugby table.

The hosts trailed 13-10 at the break at Sandy Park, but scored four second-half tries – through Cliodhna Moloney, Clara Nielson, Hope Rogers and Lori Cramer – to win 36-25.

Exeter leapfrog Saracens, who play on Sunday against defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury, at the summit with four wins from four.

Elsewhere, Harlequins secured a 22-19 win over Loughborough Lightning at the Stoop.

Loughborough struck first through Bo Westcombe-Evans before the England wing’s game ended prematurely because of injury – with Bulou Mataitoga replacing her in the 20th minute.

Quins hit back with two quickfire tries from Connie Powell and Lisa Neumann, before Loughborough’s Laura Keates dotted down to give her side a 14-10 half-time lead.

The visitors then extended their advantage through Meg Davey’s score, but tries from Quins pair Carys Phillips and Ellie Kildunne – who returned to club duty after winning the WXV 1 title with England – helped the hosts edge to victory.

In Saturday’s late game, Bristol Bears earned an impressive 57-10 bonus-point victory at winless Sale Sharks.

Gabriella Nigrelli handed Bears an early lead before the visitors doubled their advantage with a penalty try.

Courtney Keight added a third try soon after, but Sale hit back through Niamh Swailes.

England prop Sarah Bern wrapped up a first-half bonus for Bristol, who led 38-5 at the interval after further tries by Abbie Ward and Jasmine Joyce.

Meg Webb finished a fine team move to stretch Bristol’s lead after the break, and Sharks claimed their second consolation try through Scarlett Fielding from a rolling maul.

Joyce doubled her tally on the hour mark before Lark Atkin-Davies added the gloss with a ninth try for Bears, who move up to third in the table, while Sale remain rooted to the bottom.

THE Ironman World Championship has not failed to deliver once again – and the winners for the 2024 edition has been revealed!

SunSport brings you the full results and finishing order from arguably the world’s most difficult one-day sporting event.

1

Ironman World Championship 2024 results

The Ironman World Championship took place on Saturday, October 26 in Kona, Hawaii.

A total of 56 men qualified to be named king of this year’s Ironman World Championship.

Here is the finishing order and times for this year’s iconic race.

• 1. Patrick Lange (GER) – 7:35:53 (47:09 / 4:06:22 / 2:37:34)
• 2. Magnus Ditlev (DEN) – 7:43:39 (48:18 / 4:02:15 / 2:46:10)
• 3. Rudy von Berg (USA) – 7:46:00 (47:18 / 4:05:49 / 2:48:11)
• 4. Leon Chevalier (FRA) – 7:46:54 (50:43 / 4:01:38 / 2:49:56)
• 5. Menno Koolhaas (NED) – 7:47:22 (47:02 / 4:05:02 / 2:50:02)
• 6. Gregory Barnaby (ITA) – 7:48:22 (47:12 / 4:06:08 / 2:50:33)
• 7. Cameron Wurf (AUS) – 7:51:26 (52:25 / 4:03:59 / 2:50:11)
• 8. Kieran Lindars (GBR) – 7:51:55 (47:12 / 4:08:28 / 2:51:49)
• 9. Kristian Høgenhaug (DEN) – 7:53:37 (48:24 / 4:03:32 / 2:57:09)
• 10. Matt Hanson (USA) – 7:54:50 (50:37 / 4:14:11 / 2:45:25)
• 11. Bradley Weiss (RSA) – 7:55:37 (48:28 / 4:06:38 / 2:54:49)
• 12. Mathias Petersen (DEN) – 7:56:50 (48:54 / 4:10:35 / 2:52:40)
• 13. David McNamee (GBR) – 7:57:48 (47:28 / 4:18:10 / 2:47:09)
• 14. Kacper Stepniak (POL) – 7:58:08 (47:20 / 4:06:01 / 2:59:38)
• 15. Matthew Marquardt (USA) – 7:58:43 (47:18 / 4:04:55 / 3:01:43)
• 16. Jonas Hoffman (GER) – 7:59:31 (50:39 / 4:18:30 / 2:45:46)
• 17. Mike Phillips (NZL) – 8:01:11 (50:38 / 4:10:30 / 2:54:35)
• 18. Sam Laidlow (FRA) – -8:02:01 (47:06 / 3:57:22 / 3:12:49)
• 19. Paul Schuster (GER) – 8:02:06 (47:17 / 4:14:22 / 2:55:56)
• 20. Antonio Benito Lopez (ESP) – 8:03:06 (47:08 / 4:06:32 / 3:04:33)
• 21. Nick Thompson (AUS) – 8:05:04 (47:26 / 4:05:28 / 3:06:01)
• 22. Tristan Olij (NED) – 8:06:41 (52:15 / 4:08:33 / 3:00:25)
• 23. Robert Kallin (SWE) – 8:07:25 (48:22 / 4:01:44 / 3:12:13)
• 24. Sam Appleton (AUS) – 8:08:05 (47:16 / 4:10:54 / 3:05:06)
• 25. Ben Hamilton (NZL) – 8:09:35 (50:44 / 4:13:08 / 3:00:15)
• 26. Stenn Goetstouwers (BEL) – 8:11:01 (50:36 / 4:15:44 / 2:59:23)
• 27. Dylan Magnien (FRA) – 8:11:57 (48:24 / 4:28:11 / 2:49:49)
• 28. Braden Currie (NZL) – 8:12:33 (47:22 / 4:25:51 / 2:54:25)
• 29. Finn Grosse-Freese (GER) – 8:14:48 (47:16 / 4:10:20 / 3:12:40)
• 30. Michael Weiss (AUT) – 8:16:08 (55:08 / 4:11:20 / 3:04:17)
• 31. Ben Kanute (USA) – 8:19:08 (47:15 / 4:08:29 / 3:18:29)
• 32. Lionel Sanders (CAN) – 8:22:06 (52:21 / 4:08:55 / 3:16:05)
• 33. Rasmus Svenningsson (SWE) – 8:27:08 (52:29 / 4:33:18 / 2:54:59)
• 34. Daniel Baekkegard (DEN) – 8:28:24 (47:23 / 4:19:45 / 3:15:45)
• 35. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) – 8:29:58 (47:21 / 4:05:47 / 3:32:04)
• 36. Tomasz Szala (POL) – 8:41:23 (50:42 / 4:22:27 / 3:23:07)
• 37. Jason Pohl (CAN) – 8:46:59 (52:23 / 4:17:38 / 3:31:45)
• 38. Jackson Laundry (CAN) -8:48:26 (50:48 / 4:12:03 / 3:40:32)
• 39. Andre Lopes (BRA) – 8:55:38 (50:35 / 4:42:28 / 3:17:10)
• 40. Thor Bendix Madsen (DEN) – 9:12:53 (50:41 / 4:08:09 / 4:08:52)
• 41. Igor Amorelli (BRA) – 9:21:50 (48:15 / 4:39;50 / 3:47:37)
• 42. Steven McKenna (AUS) – 9:35:13 (47:29 / 4:15:37 / 4:27:14)

What has been said?

Patrick Lange broke the course record to win his third Ironman title.

Lange, 39, previously won the Hawaiian title in 2017 and 2018 and he was quick to express how grateful he is feeling.

The German said: “I always said my best year was yet to come and no-one believed me,” a fired-up Lange said.

“It’s amazing, I can’t believe it … I just feel grateful.”