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Sports

Augsburg Keeper Forces Missed PK by Digging Hole Near Penalty Spot

Points for creativity, or nah?

Augsburg Keeper Marwin Hitz has discovered a new way to defend penalty kicks: sabotage. During a Bundesliga match against FC Köln, referees awarded a penalty kick to Köln after Philipp Hosiner went down in the box. He went down pretty easily, so maybe this is a little bit of ball don't lie in addition to dirty pool. Anthony Modeste was set to take the shot for Köln, but before he did, Hitz dug his cleats into the turf near the spot.

He wasn't even particularly sly about it, twisting and digging both his toe and heel into the pitch right under the referee's nose and as Modeste stood mere feet away. Predictably, Modeste slipped as he made contact with the ball, causing a low misfire that Hitz was able to stop. Augsburg later scored in the 61st minute and held on for a 1-0 win. For his part, Hitz seems to regret the move, telling reporters after the match "I would not do it again."

[reddit]