No shoe, no problem

One of the more unusual scenes this past matchday transpired in the Northern Derby between bottom-of-the-table leaders Hamburg and Bremen. Just past the hour mark, with the teams tied 2-2, Hamburg’s Michael Gregoritsch had already scored twice and stood a chance of making it three. He dashed forward, shoe in hand:

Wait, what? Gregoritsch’s left shoe had come off in a duel just a moment before the play. He hadn’t put it back on yet, but no time for that now!

He later told kicker, “I thought, ‘if I score now, I’m going down in history!’” But, alas, the ball was cleared before he could get to it, and he thus missed the opportunity to join the ranks of soccer legends as “Shoeless” Michael Gregoritsch.

For what it’s worth, DFB rules stipulate that a goal scored by a player who has not had enough time to put his shoes or shin guards back indeed counts.