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Japanese club scores two goals from own half in 90 seconds

Scoring a goal from inside your own half is rare enough, but incredibly Japanese second division side Montedio Yamagata managed the feat twice in one game in their 3-0 win over Ehime FC.

In their J2 fixture against 16th place Ehime, Montedio managed to create a football rarity not once, but twice, within 90 seconds of each other. Just over an hour into the match, Shun Nakamura doubled his side’s lead by catching the visitors’ goalkeeper off-guard with an astonishing lofted shot from well behind the halfway line.

Before Masahiro Okamoto could react, the ball had floated into the back of his net and the home-side were wheeling away in celebration. However, the nightmare was only just starting for Okamoto and Ehime. Less than 90 seconds after the restart, Montedio struck again from an almost identical scenario, this time through Tatushiro Sakamoto.

Sakamoto found the back of the net from over 50 yards out, capitalising on the goalkeeper’s second bout of poor positioning. The midfielder’s strike claimed Montedio’s third goal and added to a sorry outing for Okamoto.

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Despite the fact the second long-range effort was a rather sloppy shot on goal, Okamoto’s attempts to save weren’t enough to keep it out of the net.

It’s a kind of goal often associated with footballing greats such as Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Xabi Alonso. A 21-year-old Beckham famously scored an outrageous halfway-line goal against Wimbledon in 1996, a goal he admits is his favourite of his career.

Montedio Yamagata went on to win their fixture 3-0 and they now sit in second place in the J2 league table on 67 points.

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