We’ve all known players to get caught with their pants down – but players having their shorts pulled down? It happens.
Starting with a glittering example from the weekend just gone, whack on some Benny Hill music and enjoy these moments of pure slapstick:
Edin Džeko v Kyriakos Papadopoulos
Former Man City striker Džeko lashed out in humorous, if not good-humoured, fashion when Papadopoulos brought him down during a World Cup 2018 qualifier between Greece and Bosnia.
He was shown his second yellow for the tug, while Papadopoulos was also sent off for his part in the incident:
Jan Vertonghen v Nicklas Helenius
Dane v Dane! The Spurs defender creatively disrupted the Aston Villa striker’s shot during a League Cup tie, and furthermore he got away with it as his side ran out 4-0 winners:
Gary Roberts v Russell Penn
Chesterfield winger Roberts had the perfect solution to Penn’s efforts to interfere with his free-kick, whipping down the Cheltenham Town midfielder’s shorts right in front of the referee.
Despite Penn’s unintentionally hilarious protestations, the official remained unmoved:
Roberts went on to score the opening goal of the game, underlining the fact that he’s not one to be messed with.
Marco Verratti v Axel Ngando
PSG midfielder Verratti offered up a wry take on the professional foul when he put a cynical end to a Bastia break:
Luke Mulholland v Sebastián Jaime
It’s not entirely clear what led to this celebratory prank between Real Salt Lake team-mates:
Jacob Blyth v Ben Tozer
Not even post-match interviews are a safe space, as Northampton Town’s Tozer found out here:
Adrien Trebel
And you can rule out trophy celebrations too, if the experience of Standard Liège captain Trebel is anything to go by:
But who was the perpetrator? Do write in if you know.