Landreau takes blame for PSG exit
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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Paris Saint-Germain FC goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau held up his hands and said that his own goal was the undoing of his team's UEFA Cup campaign as his miscued punch provided the second in FC Dynamo Kyiv's 3-0 victory.
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Paris Saint-Germain FC goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau held up his hands and agreed that his own goal was the undoing of his team's UEFA Cup campaign.
Own goal
The French side travelled to Ukraine with their UEFA Cup quarter-final level at 0-0 but within four minutes Landreau was beaten by Ismaël Bangoura, and then came the keeper's real nightmare moment. Olexandr Aliyev's 16th-minute cross was headed high in the air by Ceará, and Landreau attempted to punch the ball clear, but instead diverted it into his own net and his side went on to lose 3-0.
Unique mistake
"The ball was falling from a great height," Landreau said. "It had a huge spin on it as well. Until the last moment I wasn't sure what to do. After contact with my hands the ball accelerated and went in. It's really hard to explain my error. I have never made such a mistake in my whole career. Of course, this mistake changed the match, it was the key to Dynamo's victory, while also demoralising for our players."
Credit to Dynamo
Landreau did partially redeem himself with some fine saves but just past the hour he parried an Aliyev free-kick and Ognjen Vukojević claimed the third. The goalkeeper was quick to credit Dynamo's performance. "We knew that Dynamo would play totally differently at home," the 29-year-old said. "The quick goal settled their nerves, but you can't say that about us. Right from the beginning we understood how hard it would be for us. In my opinion, Dynamo didn't make a single defensive mistake in this game. We really wanted to go through to the semi-finals, but we were never close to achieving that."