Aston Villa endured another defeat on the road against Brentford on Sunday to continue an abysmal run of form that has so far produced three defeats in four matches.
Having shown early signs of promise under new boss Steven Gerrard, Villa have struggled of late, failing to produce an end result despite putting up decent performances.
Against Brentford, Villa scored an early goal through Danny Ings but conceded two. And with his side trailing 2-1 in the dying moments of the game, Mahmoud Hassan, commonly known as Trezeguet, produced a moment of howler which added to Villa’s embarrassment on the night.
Charging into the opposition’s box, the Egyptian midfielder threw himself on the ground in a rather dramatic style when contacted by Brentford player Saman Ghoddos.
Although it appeared to be the flimsiest of touches, Trezeguet seemed intent on making the most out of it.
Making matters worse, he proceeded with excessive antics, screaming and clutching his head in pain. And despite replays clearing suggesting a dive, he remained writhing about the turf.
Perhaps sensing the massive overreaction, the referee didn’t stop the play as Brentford players went on the counter which eventually fizzled out with Ivan Toney striking the ball wide from long-range.
Unsurprisingly, the incident provoked fans, with many unanimous in calling it an embarrassment.
That is the worst dive I've ever seen from trezeguet😂 man went down like he's been no scoped pic.twitter.com/aJ7rPovoqX
— Jack McGarry (@Jack_McGarry99) January 2, 2022
Trezeguet looks good in the new Matrix film. pic.twitter.com/7PFbkEiQGn
— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) January 2, 2022
Embarrassing by Trezeguet! Just ban him for 3 games. Retrospective action. Simple. What a clown. 🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/1rn2MBu9Ok
— Grovesy (@Grov_esy) January 2, 2022
the funniest part is trezeguet not fully deciding which injury he’s going to fake. he thought maybe face…maybe ankle
— oatmeal influencer (@acechhh) January 2, 2022
Pretty sure Trézéguet won’t have endeared himself to his manager with that dive 😏
— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) January 2, 2022
Trezeguet tribute at Cineworld. pic.twitter.com/XmiQOqPA9W
— Mark Richards (@Markysix) January 2, 2022
Just wondering this morning why there’s no update on the condition of poor @Trezeguet after he was left for dead in Brentford’s penalty area pic.twitter.com/lJT25TnE1t
— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) January 3, 2022
In fact, Trezeguet’s action was so embarrassing that even Villa fans were left complaining.
I’m disgusted in Trezeguet at the end there.
— Gary Smith Jnr (@GarySmithJnr) January 2, 2022
I’d love to see him disciplined by the club.
Embarrassing.#AVFC
I’m actually fuming with Trezeguet. Has the chance to do something, potentially create an equalising goal, but he tries to cheat. 🤦♂️
— Harry Batters (@HarryBatters) January 2, 2022
Considering the immense public denunciation, it might not be a surprise to see Trezeguet’s dive feature amongst the worst cases of diving the game has ever seen.