An action that had never been seen before: the goal is scored with two balls at the same time: the referee applies the regulation

We really don't remember such an action, although we have seen it in all kinds of situations. What happened last Sunday in China, in a match of the 26th week of League One, the second category of Chinese football, was so unusual that you have to watch the footage several times to understand what really happened. Shaanxi Union was hosting Foshan Nanshi (the match later ended with a 5-1 victory for the home team), when, with the score 2-0, two goals were scored simultaneously: literally, two balls ended up in the net at the same moment, but neither of the goals was considered valid, in accordance with the regulations.

Two balls end up in the net at the same time: the surreal event in China

It all started with a Shaanxi striker trying to keep the ball in play along the touchline, but the ball went out of play. A Foshan player immediately took a throw-in with his hands, picking up another ball that was on the corresponding cone, just outside the field, and thus initiating a first action on a spatio-temporal line on the field of play. However, at the same time, the first ball, which a player had kicked in vain inside the field in an attempt to keep it in play, began to move independently, becoming the protagonist of a second parallel universe, in the same space as the first.

The first action, the “regular one”, continued with Shaanxi immediately recovering the ball after the opponents’ throw-in and heading towards the goal. A dangerous shot from the edge of the area, the goalkeeper’s reception and then a second shot from close range by another attacker, who sent the ball into the net for the score of 3-0. But, at that very moment, everyone saw another ball that ended up in the net. It was the ball that had not been held on the field and that had returned inside, ending up in midfield. What happened was that a Foshan footballer, Mame Ndiaye, a 29-year-old Senegalese formed in the Brescia youth team, deliberately kicked this second ball towards his team’s goal, with the clear intention of stopping the opponents’ dangerous action and forcing the referee to intervene.

The result was a surreal moment with an extraordinary visual impact: the “official” ball of the match was kicked into the net by the Shaanxi striker, while at the same time the second ball, kicked back by the Foshan player, slipped and ended up in the same goal, at the exact same moment. The home team started to celebrate, but the referee immediately stopped the game and disallowed the goal.

Why the referee disallowed the goal: what the regulations say

The decision was correct, as the second ball clearly interfered with the first action: the goalkeeper was forced to deflect the ball just as the other ball was passing by. The presence of a second ball on the field does not automatically lead to an interruption of play, unless it interferes with the action, as defined by Law 5 of football. However, in this case, the second ball entered the area where the action was taking place directly and ended up in the goal together with the official match ball, creating a clear interference and hindering the defense and the goalkeeper.

The point of Law 5 relating to outside interference, in the case where a second ball enters the field of play. Therefore, the referee disallowed the goal and punished Mame Ndiaye with a yellow card for unsporting conduct, as he had deliberately kicked the second ball back, with the intention of damaging the opponents and forcing an interruption of play.

The match then restarted with a throw-in by the referee in favour of the goalkeeper, as the ball was inside the penalty area. Everything was managed perfectly by the referee, in accordance with the regulations and without much controversy, as the match continued normally and Shaanxi, the team whose goal was disallowed, won by a clear score of 5-1.