Anan Khalaili Suffers Nightmare Return for Crystal Palace with Early Own Goal
Anan Khalaili suffered a nightmare return for Crystal Palace, scoring an own goal three minutes into the match against Nottingham Forest after recovering from an injury.
Anan Khalaili endured a nightmare return for Crystal Palace on Sunday following the international break, scoring an own goal just three minutes into the match against Nottingham Forest.
After recovering from an injury sustained during Israel's UEFA Nations League campaign, Khalaili started for Palace but accidentally headed the ball backward, allowing Dan Ndoye to capitalize and give the visitors an early lead.
Journalists and pundits were quick to react to the blunder. Paul Taylor of The Athletic tweeted, A terrible backward header from Khalaili to Ndoye. Ed Aarons of The Guardian agreed, calling it simply a dreadful header by Khalaili toward his own box. Sky Sports analyst William Bitibiri added that it was a grave error that gifted the opponents an easy goal.
Despite the disastrous start, Khalaili nearly atoned for his mistake five minutes later with a sharp cross to Larsen. However, the early setback heavily impacted Palace as they struggled to recover.