Coritiba's Jacy Maranhao Scores, Falls Down Tunnel Celebrating — Then Goal Ruled Out by VAR

A Brazilian defender headed in what he thought was his first goal in living memory, vaulted the advertising boards to celebrate with fans, and fell straight down a tunnel that led to the away dressing room. The goal was then disallowed. He injured his ankle in the fall.

Jacy Maranhao, a 29-year-old centre-back for Coritiba, rose to meet a cross in the 41st minute against Chapecoense at the Couto Pereira stadium in Curitiba on Saturday 8 August. His side were already 1-0 up — the Brazilian top-flight match — and the defender sprinted towards the supporters behind the goal, leaped over the hoarding, and vanished into the passageway below (BBC Sport).

He had scored, or so he believed. Centre-backs — the big defenders who rarely venture into the opponent's penalty area — do not find the net often. "Centre-backs hardly ever score goals," Jacy told BBC Sport. "So when you do score… I just got carried away."

After receiving medical attention for the fall, Jacy discovered that his moment of glory had been wiped out. The semi-automatic offside system — a technology that uses cameras to detect whether a player is in an illegal position when the ball is played — had flagged him for being offside (GE Globo). The goal was chalked off. The injury, however, was real. Jacy suffered an ankle injury from the fall and was substituted shortly after half-time, having requested to come off during the second half (Lance). Coritiba went on to win 2-1.

Jacy compared the sensation of falling to a recurring dream. "You know when you dream that you're falling from a building?" he said (GE Globo). "It was like that." He was able to laugh about it afterwards: "I twisted my foot there. It's a bit sore, but I'm fine."

What makes the story stranger is that it has happened before at the same ground. In 2014, Cameroon striker Joel scored for Coritiba against São Paulo at the Couto Pereira, jumped over the barriers, and fell down the same passageway during a 3-1 win (BBC Sport). Same stadium, same hole — a decade apart.

For Coritiba, the three points stayed. For Jacy, there is a sore ankle, a disallowed goal, and a story he will be telling for years. Not every football memory comes from the back of the net. Sometimes it comes from the hole behind it.