Ex-Chelsea midfielder and Championship star falls victim to ‘unluckiest own goal ever seen’ at Copa America

AN EX-CHELSEA wonderkid scored the “unluckiest own goal ever” last night – but a new teenage Blues sensation made Copa America history moments later.

Ecuador beat Jamaica 3-1 to secure their first victory at the tournament since 2016.

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Kasey Palmer scored the ‘unluckiest own goal ‘ever’ last night[/caption]

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The Jamaica star raced over and slid in to stop a cross near the corner flag[/caption]

AP

The ball deflected off him and lopped over Jamaica’s goalie Jahmali Waite into the net[/caption]

Getty

That lucky strike led to Ecuador going on to claim a 3-1 victory[/caption]

They took the lead on 13 minutes courtesy of an OG from Kasey Palmer in Las Vegas in first half stoppage time.

Then Kendry Paez, who will join Chelsea next summer once he turns 18, doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.

Midfielder Paez, at the age of 17 years and 53 days old, is now the youngest scorer in the Copa America this century.

West Ham striker Michail Antonio pulled one back for Jamaica shortly after the break.

But Alan Minda struck in the closing seconds to secure the three points in Group B.

However, it was not the result that had most people talking afterwards and, unfortunately for Palmer, it was he who found himself going viral.

The 27-year-old Coventry City midfielder, who represented England at youth level before switching allegiance to the Reggae Boys in 2021, scored one of the “unluckiest” own goals.

Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie received the ball wide on the left as he headed towards the corner flag.

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Palmer came flying over to block his cross, but the ball deflected off him as he slid in and proceeded to take a wicked deflection.

That sent the ball looping towards the far top corner over the backpedalling Jamaican goalkeeper Jahmali Waite.

“Absolutely feel for Kasey Palmer here,” wrote one viewer.

Another said: “That is an absolute wonder of an own goal that.”

A fellow fan commented: “Genuinely the unluckiest own goal I’ve ever seen!”

A fourth posted on X: “I’ve just seen the unluckiest own goal in my life with Kasey Palmer being the culprit.”

Palmer moved to Chelsea’s academy as a youngster from Charlton and won both the FA Youth Cup and Uefa Youth League twice while coming through with the Blues.

He ventured out on several loans to the likes of Huddersfield, Derby, Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City before joining the Robins permanently in 2019.

He spent three years at Ashton Gate, one of which included a season-long loan at Swansea City.

Palmer then moved to Coventry in 2022 and helped them to reach the Championship play-off final in his first year.

He and his Jamaica team-mates remain winless having lost their opener 1-0 to Mexico and sit bottom of the group,

The Mexicans later suffered a surprise 1-0 loss to group leaders Venezuela, who opened their campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Ecuador.