Joe Hart made his debut for Torino today against Atalanta after his loan move from Manchester City, but it did not go well.
It was not the best of starts to the day for the 29-year-old goalkeeper as he was referred to as John Hart (his other middle name, his first name is actually Charles) on the team sheet.
Torino took the lead in the 54th minute through Iago Falque, but just two minutes later Hart was at fault for letting Atalanta back into the game.
Hart failed to deal with an Atalanta corner, succeeding only in limply punching it into the path of Andrea Masiello who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
With eight minutes to go, Atalanta were awarded a penalty, giving Hart the chance to find redemption for his earlier error.
Unfortunately for the English number one, he guessed the wrong way and Yannick Kelesie gave his side a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish.
Given the performance of Claudio Bravo for Manchester City in yesterday’s derby, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Hart to show that Blues boss Pep Guardiola had made a mistake in offloading him on loan this season.
Alas, it was not meant to be, and for a goalkeeper who has become regarded as somewhat error-prone in the last few months, the change of scenery has not yet done anything to alter that perception.
Naturally, Hart was ridiculed by all and sundry for his debut error on Twitter and you can read a selection of what we found below:
There were some who fought Hart’s corner (even if he couldn’t defend Torino’s), but they were in short supply.
Hart and his Torino teammates will be in action the same time next weekend when Empoli pay a visit to the Stadio Olimpico di Torino.
Until then, he will have to make do with his new role as the laughing stock of British football.
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