Glentoran goalkeeper Aaron McCarey will probably regret his moment of madness in a Northern Ireland league match after he was shown a red card for striking his own teammate after his team conceded a late equalizer.
Up 2-1 with 10 minutes to go, Glentoran looked set to take all three points against Coleraine, only for the away side to score a goal that would spark a bizarre fight among the Glentoran ranks.
After the ball went past McCarey to make it 2-2, the former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international turned his attentions to teammate Bobby Burns, who had made a mistake during the build-up to the goal.
You have to see it to believe it 😬
— Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) October 16, 2021
Glentoran GK Aaron McCarey sent off for striking teammate Bobby Burns after conceding equaliser in Northern Ireland.
One teammate even threw a ball at McCarey.
McCarey joins Bowyer/Dyer, Marcao etc in Hall of Shame pic.twitter.com/rExarOuq6c
The 29-year-old goalkeeper flattened his Glentoran teammate and grabbed him by his shirt before the other Glentoran teammates intervened to separate them.
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The assistant referee saw the entire episode unfold and it resulted in a red card to McCarey, leaving the hosts to see out the final minutes with 10 men. It forced an immediate substitution to allow a backup goalkeeper to man the Glentoran net.
Glentoran could have overtaken Coleraine in the NIFL Premiership standings and moved to within five points of leaders Cliftonville. After the draw Glentoran is in sixth place (13 points), while Coleraine are in fourth with 15 points. Last season Coleraine and Glentoran finished second and third in the standings, respectively, after the playoffs.
The football world has now seen two top-flight teammate attacks in a span of three months, with the Glentoran incident following the one that involved Galatasaray player Marcao, who was ejected from a match in August for punching and head-butting a teammate.
Just wait for the replay...
— Goal (@goal) October 16, 2021
The goalkeeper takes down his team-mate with a wrestling move before getting sent off! 😳 pic.twitter.com/BUTYwtD1nI