The curse of the FA Cup struck ITV again last night when the broadcaster mistakenly cut to an ad break 30 seconds before Everton scored the only goal of their fourth-round replay against Liverpool near the end of extra time. In some parts of the country pictures were restored just as Dan Gosling sent the ball into Liverpool’s net, but others rejoined the action only when the Everton players were celebrating.

Steve Rider, the programme’s presenter, was contrite as he drew parallels with Liverpool’s fate. “Technically, it [the goal] came at a bad time for us as well,” he told viewers at the final whistle. “If you missed the goal, our apologies for the technical problems we had at that time.”

The television picture cut away from the match when Joleon Lescott, the Everton defender, was taking the ball over the halfway line. Viewers were treated to a brief mention of e.on, the FA Cup’s sponsors, and then an advert for tic tacs while Goodison Park witnessed a rare moment of great excitement in a fairly dull game.

ITV was also forced to say sorry after their live showing of the FA Cup second-round tie between Histon and Leeds United. Fans describing the broadcaster as “f***ing s**t” were clearly audible while pictures from the Blue Square Premier team’s dressing-room revealed a player baring all.

BBC suffered at Euro 2008 when a thunderstorm caused technical problems during their broadcast of the semi-final between Germany and Turkey. Viewers missed Germany’s second goal in their 3-2 victory while the audio switched regularly between the television commentary and BBC Radio 5 Live’s description.

Another momentous goal missed by television viewers came last season when Derby County produced their only winning strike of the league campaign. Kenny Miller’s goal in the 1-0 victory over Newcastle United hit the net as Setanta Sports viewers were seeing a replay of an earlier incident.