ILLAN MESLIER has been blasted for the “worst goalkeeping error ever” – and it was a costly- last-gasp howler.
The Frenchman somehow fumbled a dismal 97th-minute cross into the net as Championship leaders Sunderland nicked a 2-2 draw.
Black Cats sub Alan Browne, who delivered the centre, was so surprised he revealed afterwards he was expecting a pasting from his team-mates – only for Meslier’s horrific intervention to rescue him.
Browne told Sky Sports: “I thought the boys would be fuming but the keeper chucked it in the net.
I am almost embarrassed but I’ll still claim it.
“In the end we got the lucky break, whether we deserved it or not I am not sure. “
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
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THERE’S a mutiny brewing in New England.
Well, at least that’s what one New England Patriots insider said on a team-sponsored podcast.
That’s right, a podcast that the Patriots themselves publish just said the team is near a mutiny inside of the locker room.
Evan Lazar, a senior reporter for Patriots.com, painted the ugly picture for fans on a recent episode of the Catch 22 podcast.
This podcast is published on patriots.com, the main website of the NFL team.
“Right now they are teetering on mutiny in that locker room,” Lazar said.
“And I don’t want to be an alarmist or [be hyperbolic]… I don’t. But I was in that locker room after the game on Sunday. The defense is mad at the defense.
“The offense is mad at the offense. You have young receivers who are literally throwing tantrums on film.”
The podcast was swiftly removed from the website, but it is significant to hear a team employee talking so badly about the Patriots.
Wide receiver Pop Douglass displayed his frustrations with the team on the field after the Patriots lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
“That’s not me. I felt bad as soon as I watched it. That was poor by me, how I was on the field,” Douglass told MassLive on Wednesday.
“But my team got my back, and I definitely got theirs. It’s just my love of the game. And I love winning.”
Lazar said on the deleted podcast that offensive players are antsy for rookie quarterback Drake Maye to get a shot at playing.
“You’re at the point now with 52 other guys in that locker room that all watch both these two quarterbacks practice every single day. That all know that they drafted Drake Maye third overall,” Lazar said.
“At what point in time do some of these guys say to themselves, ‘Why am I going out there and getting my butt kicked every single Sunday and Drake can’t?
“Like why am I going out there with a quarterback who can’t get me the football, when we’ve got the Ferrari back in the garage that can get me the football?”
Lazar has since walked back on his mutiny claims and other statements he made on the podcast.
“The word I used, ‘mutiny,’ there is no mutiny in the Patriots locker room,” Lazar said over the phone on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
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“And like I said I got carried away and that was my bad. That was not what was going on.
“I think just the biggest thing that I worry about — and this is just me, personally, my opinion — is how long the rest of the players in the locker room going to sit there and take their lumps while Drake Maye waits in the wings and waits for his turn.
“So it was just my opinion and it kind of came out stronger than I intended it to.”
While Lazar walked back on his claims, many fans were quick to back him up for telling the truth about the team.
“Common Evan W. This is not uncommon for him,” one fan said.
“He really made some solid points whether we like it or not lol,” another fan said.
“This was bound to happen what did they expect,” a third fan said.
A FOUR-year-old boy who starved to death was filmed begging for food just days before he died, harrowing footage has shown.
Benjamin Cervera weighed just 28lbs when he died on August 17, 2021.
His stepmom, Miranda Casarez had taken him to the emergency room that day, where medics found the tiny child unconscious, emaciated and covered in bruises. He died shortly after.
Casarez, 25, was found guilty in April and sentenced to 25 years in prison for injury to a child by omission causing serious bodily injury.
Benjamin’s dad, Brandon Cervera, meanwhile, sobbed in court on Wednesday as he was found not guilty in his child’s death.
It came after footage taken just days before his son died showed Benjamin begging his father for food.
The video, recorded on a cell phone and played during Cervera’s trial in Bexar County, Texas, showed the little boy looking up to the camera eyes-wide, his hands folded against his emaciated chest.
During the clip, Benjamin can be heard asking, “Dad, dad, can I have bread?”
Other footage played during the trial showed the four-year-old hunting for food at home, as well as crying while trapped in his bedroom.
One devastating clip from early 2021 showed him rummaging through cabinets and opening the fridge in the middle of the night.
The little boy could be seen taking fruit snacks, a Jell-O cup, cookies, and milk while looking towards the camera.
The cellphone footage was obtained by police off Benjamin’s stepmother’s device, while the surveillance footage was taken from cameras placed inside the apartment, according to Detective Lawrence Saiz of the San Antonio Police Department.
During Cervera’s trial, the state argued that cameras pointed towards the children’s rooms and kitchens in his house, claiming the defendant and his ex-wife, Casarez, could see if Benjamin was sneaking out in the middle of the night to get food.
It also said the defendant would threaten his son with squats every time he asked for bread.
Prosecutors said Cervera would eventually go on to lock the cabinets, making it harder for Benjamin to get food.
And in one text exchange with his ex-wife, Cervera allegedly told her to just “give him bread,” adding, “he don’t need to eat dinner.”
The messages came after she told Cervera he had been begging to eat all day.
Cervera’s lawyers argued the message was taken out of context, insisting the dad said not to give Benjamin dinner because he had already eaten a whole loaf of bread.
They also argued squats were used as a positive reinforcement, claiming they would help make the boy stronger.
The Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Kimberley Molina, said Benjamin only weighed 28 pounds at the time of his death and hadn’t grown in 10 months, ABC affiliate KSAT reports.
But after expert witness Dr. Erik Christensen, a retired Utah medical examiner, gave examples of other potential causes of death -including suffocation, seizure, heart-related issues or untreated diabetes – Cervera’s lawyers argued these could not be ruled out.
Cervera was found not guilty of causing serious bodily injury in his son’s death on Wednesday.
Miranda Casarez, meanwhile, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for injury to a child by omission causing serious bodily injury.
In a statement after the verdict, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said, “We respect the very difficult decision made by the jury in this case.
“I want to take a moment to acknowledge the tragic loss of Benjamin.
“Our hearts go out to the family as well as those members of law enforcement, the Bexar County District Attorney’s victim advocates, prosecutors, investigators and all who worked to see that Benjamin’s death was not in vain and that this community will not forget his tragically untimely loss.”
