Enckelman adamant blunder was not a goal

Peter Enckelman yesterday apologised to Aston Villa fans for his goalkeeping howler at Birmingham on Monday night but insisted his error should have resulted in a corner, not an own goal.

The Finnish custodian's repentance came as the Football Association launched an investigation into crowd disorder at the match, which saw three small pitch invasions, one after each of Birmingham City's goals in the 3-0 win.

Enckelman's gaffe handed the home side a 2-0 lead after he misjudged a routine throw-in from his team-mate Olof Mellberg. Instead of controlling the simple ball, the keeper allowed it to trickle under his foot and into the net. The referee, David Elleray, adjudged that the Finn had touched the ball and let the goal stand. The laws of the game say goals cannot be scored direct from throw-ins.

"It should have been the easiest thing in the world to control," Enckelman said yesterday. "But the next thing I knew I had missed it and it was in the net. I honestly don't think I touched the ball. I made a blunder and that's it." There remains some doubt over whether Enckelman knew, before his mistake, the laws concerning goals being scored from throw-ins. His manager, Graham Taylor, said immediately after the match that the goalkeeper had been unaware of them, and that is why the Finn had made an effort to run after the ball. Enckelman was telling a different story yesterday.

"I know the rules," he said. "A throw-in cannot go straight in. I can understand the fans' disappointment and I am sorry for my mistake. Now the fans need to get behind the team and we need a win on Sunday – I'm already looking forward to the next game." Taylor said that Enckelman now needs to show "great force of character to just get on with his game".

The FA said it had contacted Birmingham "to request their views on certain issues involving supporters encroaching on to the pitch".

After Enckelman's error, several home supporters ran into the box to taunt him and make obscene gestures, while one actually slapped him on the side of the face. The FA said it would await reports from the match officials and the crowd safety observer before deciding what action to take.

Birmingham posted a photograph of the fan who confronted Enckelman on their official website and invited "genuine fans" to identify him. "We will track him down and he will be banned for life," David Gold, Birmingham's chairman, said.

Playing down the other incursions onto the pitch, Gold added: "It was a handful of fans in pure jubilation. This was not an invasion where fans were fighting each other or were attacking players."

OTHER GREAT GOALKEEPING BLUNDERS

Gary Sprake (Leeds United)
Liverpool 2 Leeds 0 (First Division)
9 December 1967
The ultimate bungle. Seemingly intent on distributing the ball to team-mate Willie Bell, Sprake started his throwing action only to change his mind midway through. Unable to curb the momentum, he span like a discus thrower, failed to hold the ball and chucked it into his own net.

Rene Higuita (Colombia)
Cameroon 2 Colombia 1 (World Cup, second round)
23 June 1990
Higuita, a renowned dribbler, set off up the park and encountered Roger Milla, who he thought he could pass with a drag-back. He lost possession. Milla strode away, grin on face, and scored. Higuita was later imprisoned, although on kidnapping charges, not crimes against ball skills.

Ian Bennett (Birmingham City)
Bristol Rovers 1 Birmingham City 1 (Second Division)
29 March 1995
The visiting goalkeeper had plenty of time to whack the back pass from his team-mate Chris Whyte. So much time that he launched a good run at it, kicked out hard – and missed completely. It rolled under his foot and into the back of the net, much like Mellberg's throw on Monday.

Massimo Taibi (Man United)
Manchester United 3 Southampton 3 (Premiership)
25 September 1999
Matt Le Tissier's daisy cutter barely had the power to trouble the daisies. Taibi, poor flower, was not so stout, and as the £4.5m man bent down, the ball trickled through his legs. It was the Italian's third and penultimate United game. His last was a 5-0 defeat at Chelsea. Arrivederci.

Filip De Wilde (Belgium)
Belgium 2 Sweden 1 (Euro 2000)
10 June 2000
The host nation's De Wilde ambled towards a back-pass from Phillippe Leonard, put one foot on the ball, lost his balance and fell over. As he floundered on the ground, Johan Mjallby stroked the ball into an empty net. "It was very stupid," De Wilde conceded. "Thank God we won."

Oliver Kahn (Germany)
Brazil 2 Germany 0 (World Cup final)
30 June 2002
After seven hours and seven minutes without conceding in the 2002 tournament, the German goalkeeper failed to hold, or recover, a catchable shot from Rivaldo. He scrambled to try to cover his open net but Ronaldo was in for 1-0. On any other stage, just a bad error. On this one, terrible.