Error made initially by Google's central characters (3,4)

I believe the answer is:

own goal

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'error' is the definition.
(I have seen 'embarrassing error' mean 'own goal' so perhaps 'error' could also mean 'own goal')

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

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(Other definitions for own goal that I've seen before include "One may get back embarrassed" , "Unfortunate football incident" , "move that backfired?" , ""Wrong-net" score" , "Goon law (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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