FORMER STOKE City striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting is the talk of Twitter after being handed a rare start for Paris Saint-Germain.
Unfortunately for the Cameroon international, it mainly revolves around whether he’s guilty of arguably the worst miss to ever grace the beautiful game.
With Kylian Mbappe rested for the visit of Strasbourg, Choupo-Moting started for PSG in a game that would have seen the Ligue 1 leaders crowned champions had they won. The 30-year-old made a great start too, scoring the opening goal at the Parc des Princes.
Strasbourg, fresh from victory in the French League Cup final, were not about to go down without a fight and quickly levelled things up. Then came Choupo-Moting’s moment of madness. Breaking into the right-hand side of the Strasbourg box, teammate Christopher Nkunku delicately chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.
With the ball slowly advancing towards the open net, Choupo-Moting sensed an opportunity to not only ensure PSG retook the lead but add to his own tally along the way.
Except, it didn’t quick work out that way with the 30-year-old’s clumsy touch taking the ball away from the goal and onto the post. Yet somehow Choupo-Moting had managed to not only deny Nkunku a great goal but also hit the post from the goal line, in a blunder unlike any seen before.
Is this the worst miss of all time? 😂
Eyebrows were raised when PSG signed Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting from relegated Stoke City...
But this is something else 👀 pic.twitter.com/zSudeXAl1b— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 7, 2019
Strasbourg went on to take the lead before a late PSG goal rescued a draw for the hosts who will have to wait another week to be crowned champions.
"I thought Nkunku was going to give it to me - and than I thought the defender was going to get it,” the ex-Premier League star said after the game. "I wondered if I was offside and it all happened very fast. I touched the ball, it hit the post and, well, it's a real shame because the ball was going in...Sorry about that."
Mbappe and PSG’s manager Thomas Tuchel came out in support of the misfiring striker. "I think he's lacking confidence. He's not here to start every game but he is at the moment because we have a lot of injuries,” Tuchel said. "It's not his role. He's a great substitute."
“Mbappe's reaction says it all.” 😳
Is this Eric Choupo-Moting miss the worst you have ever seen? pic.twitter.com/gpbsMI8EYH— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) April 8, 2019
"Big up to Choupo-Moting. I have missed a lot more than you have this season, we stay united as a group and we will support you until the end,” Mbappe wrote on Twitter.
Choupo-Moting spent one season in the Premier League with Stoke, scoring five goals in 32 games for the Potters who were relegated that summer.
