Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella changed his cleats just 12 minutes into the game after his slips contributed to both of Tottenham's early goals in the teams' London derby in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Spain international ceded possession by slipping on the turf at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the fifth and 11th minutes — and from the ensuing attacks, Spurs scored through Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski.
Immediately after Kulusevski's shot hit the net to make it 2-0, Cucurella sprinted to the sideline while shrugging his shoulders and pointed to his cleats. He took them off and threw them away in disgust before putting on new ones.
It seemed to work.
Within six minutes, he provided the pass that led to Jadon Sancho scoring for Chelsea to make it 2-1.
Chelsea went on to win 4-3 — and Cucurella posted a photo on social media after the match, showing the first cleats he wore nestled in a bin.
“It almost slipped away,” Cucurella wrote on Instagram Stories, “but proud of the amazing team effort to turn things around.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
