Football
AAP 7y

Ryan warms up for Premier League season with howler, Juric sees red

First-choice Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan has warmed up for his maiden Premier League campaign with a howler against Atletico Madrid.

And in more bad news for Socceroos overseas, striker Tomi Juric was dished up a straight red card for his role in a scuffle.

Ryan's Brighton and Hove Albion hosted the La Liga side in a glamour friendly ahead of the season, which kicks off next week.

Atletico won the match 3-2 after Ryan fumbled a straight-forward strike from Nicolas Gaitan slip through his fingers to open the scoring.

The gloveman looked appalled at his mistake, screaming towards the sky in frustration.

Coach Chris Hughton said aside from the mistake, Ryan was on form against the Spanish giants.

"He made two good saves before that and overall if you took that out of the game, he had a very good game," he told the club's website.

"He would be the one in the whole stadium that feels it the most.

"Even the top goalkeepers will make mistakes. It's not about the mistakes they make, but how they react from it."

Ryan will get the chance to respond on Saturday when Manchester City visit the seaside for their first Premier League match.

Juric's mistake was also a brainfade.

His Luzern side equalised against Grasshoppers in the 89th minute to secure a 2-2 result, when he was involved in a scuffle with opponent Numa Lavanchy.

Both men were sent off and face bans.

The Australian national team is in action in three weeks time, when they travel to Japan for a crunch World Cup qualifier.

The second group stage of qualifying concludes five days later with a Melbourne tie against Thailand.

Ange Postecoglou's side will then know whether they are heading for the World Cup or must confront an arduous two-legged home-and-away route to reach the Russian tournament.

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