Everyone felt sorry for Juan Mata after football’s nicest man scored an own goal

He may be approaching his 29th birthday, but Juan Mata is still achieving new things.

Admittedly, scoring the first own goal of his professional career probably wasn't too high up on the Spaniard's list, but sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth. The Manchester United man put through his own net just 20 minutes into the club's Premier League match at Stoke, giving Mark Hughes' team an early lead. https://twitter.com/NoLaughingMata/status/822827208985235457 And it got worse for Mata before it got better, with the former Chelsea man missing the target from close range when he really should have scored. https://twitter.com/JacobSteinberg/status/822829093578297345 https://twitter.com/ab5y/status/822829164797407232 Now, it's always been said that you should be nice to people on your way up, so they'll be nice to you when you're on your way down. Mata has certainly lived up to that, with some lovely gestures throughout his playing career (not to mention that lovely little blog where he signs off with 'hugs'). Really, how can you not feel for the guy? And he has clearly earned himself plenty of sympathy, as the reaction to his nightmare of a first half demonstrated. https://twitter.com/Pascalville/status/822826733581795328 https://twitter.com/DanielMcclue/status/822829335937773568 https://twitter.com/itshassanEM/status/822829360759656448 https://twitter.com/gbuf_se/status/822830255211679744 https://twitter.com/HamseTweets/status/822829819788480513