CHRIS SMALLING had his own Jonathon Woodgate moment on his debut for new club Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League.
Smalling, who joined the Saudi outfit this summer, scored an own goal and got himself sent off as Al-Fayha were thrashed 5-0 by Al-Raed.
Smalling penned a two-year deal with the Middle Eastern club after calling time on his five-year spell in Italy with Roma.
And going into his first game for the club with hopes high as one of the club’s marquee signings, Smalling put in a nightmare performance.
Just six minutes into the game and the 34-year-old tried to clear a low cross into the box, but got it horribly wrong.
Instead of knocking the ball safely away for a corner he saw it bounce off his boot and into the back of his own net.
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Al-Fayha conceded another two goals before the break and needed a big second half to turn things around.
But their chances of doing that were scuppered when Smalling was given a straight red card in the 55th minute, reducing his side to ten men and making a comeback virtually impossible.
The two-time Premier League champion has been compared to former Leeds and Middlesbrough defender Jonathan Woodgate, who had a similarly calamitous debut when he first joined Real Madrid.
Back in 2005, Woodgate had sealed a move to Los Blancos and made his first start in a clash with Athletic Bilbao.
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Woodgate also scored an own goal as well as receiving two yellow cards to be given his marching orders.
However, his Real Madrid teammates managed to dig him out of the hole by turning the game around and winning 3-1, something Smalling’s Al-Fayha colleagues were unable to do.
Fans online couldn’t believe what they were seeing, taking to social media to tease Smalling for his unfortunate showing.
One wrote: “Channeling his inner Jonathon Woodgate.”
While another simply added: “Yeah, that’s bad.”
A third joked: “He probably saw Woodgate’s Real Madrid debut video before kickoff”.
And a fourth teased: “Chris Smalling having what is known as the ‘Johnathan Woodgate’ of debuts”.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
