Why Kick The Ball When You Can Just Punch

Sometimes, in soccer, a corner kick is taken, and the defending goalkeeper has to jump in the air to punch the ball away. Ordinarily, that’s a good defensive move because it prevents the attacking team from scoring, but in other rare cases, it can turn into a split-second boxing match, exactly like in the picture.

The goalkeeper with the Mike Tyson jab is Manchester United’s David De Gea, while his poor victim is former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany. It looks like a dangerous situation, but it’s likely the consequences weren’t grave. The referee would have seen this as an honest mistake and waved it off.