Pepe Reina found himself wrong-footed by a beach ball

‘Anything can happen in this game’ is an old cliché 陳詞濫調(diào) favoured by football commentators, but every now and then a game turns on 轉(zhuǎn)變成，演變成 something that no-one could have predicted 預料.

So it was on Saturday in the Premier League clash between Sunderland and Liverpool FC. In the fifth minute, a shot from Sunderland’s Darren Bent deflected 偏斜，轉(zhuǎn)向 off a large beach ball at the edge of the six-yard box.

What was the beach ball doing on the pitch? It had been thrown on by a Liverpool fan – an ironic twist 讓人啼笑皆非 particularly savoured 回味無窮 on Wearside 桑德蘭地區(qū).

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina found his eyes initially drawn to the path of the red beach ball and was wrong-footed 站錯位置，亂了陣腳, unable to make the save.

Controversially 有爭議的, referee Mike Jones allowed the goal to stand 保持有效. Sunderland went on to win the match 1-0 against a lethargic 沒精打采的 Liverpool, who seemed to be missing injured midfielder Steven Gerrard and striker Fernando Torres.

Sunderland’s victory means the Black Cats move to seventh place in the table 排行榜, ahead of Liverpool. The Reds have now lost four matches this season.

Despite this, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez refused to blame their latest defeat on the freak goal. With some equanimity 平靜, he observed "You cannot change things".

But technically, the goal should not have been allowed. The Fifa rules clearly state, "The referee stops, suspends 暫停 or terminates 中止 the match because of outside interference 干擾 of any kind."

Most referees would probably consider a beach ball an example of outside interference, and award a dropped ball 落球進門.

But Sunderland’s manager Steve Bruce said that if you knew that rule you were “a little bit sad”. Sad is here an informal and slightly rude term for someone who doesn’t have many friends and enjoys being at home by himself – possibly reading books of rules.

Although Bruce said his side deserved to win 應該贏的, he conceded that luck also played a part by saying “One’s gone our way”.

Towards the end of the match, Benitez and Bruce exchanged angry words, with the Spaniard accusing Sunderland of time-wasting 浪費時間. Bruce later brushed the altercation aside 對爭辯一事輕描淡寫帶過 , saying "It was handbags. It's all over, it's done."

By saying “It was handbags” Bruce is comparing the incident to two women hitting each other with their handbags, implying it wasn’t a serious falling-out 不和.