Micah Richards' CBS Sports wardrobe malfunction was his second in as many months on live TV.
The defender-turned-pundit was on punditry duty for CBS Sports' Champions League coverage alongside Kate Scott, Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher, when Raphinha scored a late winner for Barcelona in their clash against Benfica. Richards and Carragher erupted with jubilation as the Brazilian found the back of the net with 96 minutes played to make it 5-4.
As Richards leapt out of his chair with excitement, his blazer button appeared to pop off and land on the table in front of him – much to the delight of his amused co-presenters last night (January 21). As a replay of the incident took place, Carragher was heard saying: "Look at the button." Richards joked: "I had too much to eat didn't I?"
Scott added: "That was good." Before Richards fixed his suit while jesting: "Very big problem." As the clip was shared to social media by CBS, a number of football fans took the comments section to share their reactions. Many simply posted laughing emojis, while one user wrote: "Comedy gold." Another added: "I love to see it." While a third said: "Best reaction so far."
And it's not the first time in recent months that Richards has suffered a wardrobe malfunction either. The former Manchester City star has been a regular on BBC's Match of the Day for many years alongside Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, and during an episode in November, the latter pointed out a flaw with Richards' outfit.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker explained: "We were all together yesterday [Saturday], weren’t we? For Match of the Day, it was a long one because it was remembrance weekend, and we didn't go on until after 11pm. Micah, would you like to tell us what happened to you just before we went on air?"
Richards explained: "Basically, I went to my dressing room; when I say dressing room, I don’t want to make out we’ve got some lush dressing room. I mean, BBC is obviously brilliant to work for, but it's more like a changing room. I’ve gone there, I've put on my spray, I’ve ironed my gear, looking fantastic, if I do say myself; as soon as I get to the studio, I just see Alan [Shearer] grinning.
"I'm like, ‘what’s he grinning at now?’ He said, ‘you’ve got a hole in your top’, and I think obviously he was pulling my leg, and he said, ‘no, I’m being serious’. I pull it up, and I’ve got a massive hole – I couldn't move! I was so self-conscious it was horrible."
While Richards is usually incredibly animated during his MOTD coverage, he was unusually still due to the blunder during the episode.
Lineker added: "I saw you, because you normally do quite a lot of mannerisms with your arms and stuff, but you had a big split underneath your armpit of your shirt. It was so close to the show you didn’t even have time to get another shirt. That's what happens when you’ve got guns like that, Micah."
As for Tuesday evening's action, there was a dramatic turnaround between Benfica and Barcelona at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in the penultimate round of fixtures in the league phase of the Champions League. The hosts opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, when Vangelis Pavlidis sent the ball into the top of the net with a rocketed volley from inside the area, but Robert Lewandowski didn't let the Portuguese side hold the lead long – coolly converting a penalty with 13 minutes played after Alejandro Balde was brought down in the opposite box.
Pavlidis put Benfica up once again 22 minutes in, before bagging his hat-trick and extending the deficit further with a converted penalty of his own eight minutes later. Barcelona looked to turn the tide in the second half, when Raphinha scored in unusual fashion following a botched clearance from Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, before the Primera Liga side once again extended their lead courtesy of an own goal from Ronald Araujo.
Lewandowski converted a second penalty of his own with 78 minutes played, before Eric Garcia squared the game with four minutes of normal time left to play thanks to a well-placed header at the back post. Barcelona ultimately ran out 5-4 winners away from home when Raphinha broke on the counter down the right hand side of the pitch with pace, cutting around last man Alvaro Carreras before blistering the ball into the back of the net – well and truly warranting Richards' in-studio reaction given a remarkable comeback.