An Estonian football team produced a rare feat by taking a 1-0 lead within 14 seconds...without touching the ball.
Paide Linnameeskond, also known simply as Paide, suffered the unenviable calamity of putting the ball in the back of their net embarrassingly early when they travelled to the capital city of Tallinn to face Meistriliiga rivals Levadia Tallinn in their Estonian Cup round of 16 clash yesterday morning (NZT).
The two sides had both won their previous two matches heading into their domestic knockout cup showdown.
Levadia scored 3-0 and 2-1 wins over the lowly Nõmme United and league rivals Sillamäe Kalev, while Paide opened their campaign with a monstrous 27-0 shellacking over Rahvaliiga RL side Hiiu United, followed by a 7-3 romp over fourth division outfit Jõgeva SK Noorus-96.
Europa League candidates Levadia, currently sitting in second place in the Estonian top division, headed into the clash as favourites over their relegation threatened league rivals, but Paide could not have envisaged a worse start when defender Martin Kase passed the ball into his own goal 14 seconds after kickoff following a miscommunication with goalkeeper Magnus Karofeld.
Kase's mishap set the tone for the rest of the encounter, as they went on to fall to a 3-1 defeat in front of a crowd of 212 at the 5000-capacity Kadriorg Stadium, knocking them out of the 2017-18 edition of the Estonian Cup.
Although most clubs throughout Europe are yet to officially start their 2017-18 seasons, it will take a monumental effort to beat Paide's 14-second effort.