Marc Cucurella has thrown away the boots that saw him slip twice in Chelsea's 4-3 win over Tottenham on Sunday.
The left-back was shocked as Tottenham took an early 2-0 lead, with Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski taking advantage of his falls.
Then the Spaniard rushed to the touchline to exchange the cursed boots and equip his feet with a more appropriate pair, as Jamie Carragher pilloried him for 'embarrassing' and 'schoolboy' mistakes in Sky Sports commentary .
His blushes were spared after Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer scored two penalties and Enzo Fernandez turned the match on its head, but the damage had already been done.
And so he jettisoned the guilty kickers after the game, shared a photo of them in the trash on Instagram and sent a two-word message to the fans.
“Sorry Blues,” the left-back wrote on his Instagram Stories page, in a post that was quickly deleted.
His antics certainly made Palmer, the star of the day with his stunning panenka penalty, chuckle.
In a post-match interview, Palmer asked Cucurella where his boots were, and laughed when the defender told him of their fate.
Cucurella has had a much better season compared to last season – apart from that brilliant European Championship season with Spain – and quickly made up for his setback.
Equipped with his new boots, he provided the assist for Jadon Sancho to get back into the match, although the winger did most of the work with a dazzling dribble and bullet finish into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area.
He lost his balance for the first time just five minutes into the showdown and seconds later Solanke raced to the front post and hit a cross past Robert Sanchez.
Six minutes later, Cucurella was found guilty of the same foul after falling over, and Kulusevski punished Chelsea by squeezing home his effort.
In desperation, the 26-year-old then ran to Chelsea's technical area and put on the new boots, shrugging his shoulders in frustration.
Carragher was left stunned and said: 'Cucurella is coming to court, don't blame anyone else – it's your own fault, son!
'Absolutely schoolboy stuff. Embarrassing. He slips again. Look at him shrug his shoulders. Didn't he warm up?'
Commentator Peter Drury couldn't resist making a festive joke, telling viewers: 'Well, it's pantomime season, and like Cinderella, Cucurella needs a slipper that fits!'
Spanish international Cucurella has been a near-constant presence for the Blues this season, missing just one Premier League game due to suspension.
He joined the club in August 2022 in a deal worth over £60 million from Brighton and made 74 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal.
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