‘He could apply to be Superman’

Kai Havertz had a first half to forget having gifted a penalty to Manchester City that had some resemblance to comic book hero Superman’s pose.

The Chelsea forward struggled against the Premier League champions at the Etihad in the FA Cup third round tie, and was subsequently hauled off at half-time.

Graham Potter‘s side went into the break 3-0 down following goals from Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden.

And Havertz failed to help his side out up top, and was at fault for City’s second having handled the ball in the box.

The Germany international punched the ball away to stop Aymeric Laporte from getting on the end of a corner.

Blues boss Potter appeared to say ‘f*** me’ when watching the incident on the sidelines as Julian Alvarez tucked his spot-kick into the bottom left corner.

And talkSPORT’s Dean Ashton and Nigel Adderley were left baffled by his handball.

West Ham cult hero Ashton said on commentary: “That’s ridiculous from Kai Havertz. I mean, what is he thinking?

Ashton had been critical of Havertz prior to him giving away a penalty early on, where he said: “Havertz for me is so weak!

“He’s a big lad, he looks like he should have something about him but he’s got no aggression at all.”

Moments later he left his studs in on Rodri, where he was lucky to escape a yellow card.

On the incident, Ashton added: “That wasn’t too clever from Havertz. He’s lucky not to get a card.

“He’s not near the ball and treads right on the back of Rodri’s heel.”