The 'draught excluder' backfires! Bizarre moment Qarabag goalscorer is played ONSIDE by Braga defender laying down behind the wall at a free-kick in Europa League play-off.<br /><br />Yet the strategy seemed to backfire for Braga on Thursday night, as their designated prone defender played a Qarabag attacker onside for a goal. <br /><br />Braga went on to lose the Europa League knock-out play-off round first leg 4-2 at home, a shock result, and it was in part due to the defensive mishap. <br /><br />Controversy erupted when Qarabag's Abdelleh Zoubir bundled the ball home after a free-kick deflected to him in the second half, with the linesman ruling him offside. <br /><br />However, a VAR check ruled that Zoubir had been onside, with floor-bound defender Victor Gomez the culprit playing him onside - with his head. <br /><br />Qarabag had the chance to celebrate all over again after taking the surprise 2-1 lead and went on to secure a solid win to take back to Azerbaijan. <br /><br />Marko Jankovic had put them ahead with a penalty after 21 minutes but the sides were all level at half-time thanks to Simon Banza's equaliser. <br /><br />Qarabag hit their stride after the break, with Zoubir netting twice and Juninho scoring all before the 70-minute mark to establish a commanding lead. <br /><br />Joao Moutinho pulled one back for Braga in stoppage time but it was an embarrassing result for the fourth-strongest side in Portugal. <br /><br />Draught excluders have been popularised in recent years after defenses cottoning on to free-kick takers striking their shots under the wall.<br /><br />Lionel Messi has scored quite a few in his time, rolling the ball on the ground as defenses jump out of instinct.<br /><br />He did it several times on Barcelona duty but defenses were unsure of how to deal with it. <br /><br />Often goalkeepers do not anticipate the low shot and are caught by surprise by the cheeky attempt, so draught excluders have been brought in to combat that trend. <br /><br />The major downside is that by using a draught excluder, you lose a body to defend in the box. <br /><br />Now we're aware of a new disadvantage - the draught excluder playing somebody onside.
