3 times a missed penalty came back to haunt a team towards the end of the season

Football is a beautiful game with unending drama binges marred by defensive errors, open goal misses, late goals and poor refereeing decisions. Although long-range efforts, set-piece goals and solo goals memorize football fans, a penalty kick is more of a mental game between the keeper and the penalty taker.

There have been instances when a league was won by a single or fewer points or by goal difference owing to a penalty miss in a critical juncture of the match. Come the end of the season, one would introspect what would have happened had that player scored the penalty. Recently, Riyad Mahrez missed a late penalty against Liverpool and if City misses out on the league by two points or less, one would look back at the penalty miss by Riyad Mahrez.

Having said that, let's look at few instances when a missed penalty came back to haunt a team towards the end of the season.

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#3 Michael Carrick

Michael Carrick rues his missed penalty against Burnley in 2009

Date – 19 August 2009

Match Result -

Burnley 1 (Robbie Blake'19)

Manchester United 0

Missed Penalty - Michael Carrick '44

Having gained promotion into the premier league, Burnley were up against the reigning champions Manchester United who had won three Premier League titles on the trot. Although it looked like a case of foregone conclusion where Man Utd would rout a newly promoted team, it turned out to be a slugfest.

Robbie Blake put Burnley in front with a terrific volley in the 19th minute. Blake soon went from hero to villain after a rash challenge on Evra to concede a penalty in the 44th minute.

Michael Carrick stepped up to take the penalty. But, his shot was hit a comfortable height and was pushed away by the goalkeeper.

Had Carrick scored, Manchester United would have been level at half-time and with the momentum swung their way, they would have most likely gone on to score and win the match in the second half.

Manchester United lost the 2009-10 season to Chelsea by one point, had Carrick scored that penalty, it could have well been the fourth title on the trot.

#2 Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho failed to deliver from the spot kick

Date – 3 March 2007

Match Result

Sevilla 2 (Aleksandr Kerzhakov’39, Dani Alves’61)

Barcelona 1 (Ronaldinho’14)

Missed Penalty – Ronaldinho’29

The 2006-07 La Liga season was a tight affair as both Barcelona and Real Madrid finished with 76 points. Real Madrid was crowned champions owing a superior head to head record as they won their home fixture 2-1 at Bernabeu and drew 3-3 at the Camp Nou.

If we were to revisit one of the other vital fixtures of the 2006-07 season, it would have to be Sevilla vs Barcelona. The match started on a vibrant note for Barcelona as Ronaldinho’s header opened the scoring in the 14th minute.

Next came the decisive moment in the match, where Sevilla’s defender Aitor Ocio fouled Ronaldinho inside the penalty box and was handed a straight red resulting in a penalty for Barcelona.

However, the penalty was soft and hit towards the middle which enabled the goalkeeper to save the penalty with his legs and Ronaldinho missed a great chance to double the lead. Things got worse for Barcelona as Sevilla equalized before half-time.

In the second half, Barcelona pushed the self-destruct button as Dani Alves (who played for Sevilla during the 2006-07 season) scored a splendid free-kick to give Sevilla a 2-1 lead.

Barcelona’s winger Ludovic Giuly was handed straight red card for violent conduct and both teams were down to ten men. In the 76th minute, Zambrotta was sent-off for a second yellow card and Barcelona was down to nine men.

One would look back that the match and introspect regarding the missed penalty. If Ronaldinho would have scored the penalty, Barcelona would have most likely either won or drawn the match and would have finished first in the table come the end of the season.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo

The penalty that would have made Real Madrid table toppers come the end of the 2015-16 season

Date – 21 Feb 2016

Malaga 1 (Raul Albentosa’66)

Real Madrid 1 (Cristiano Ronaldo’33)

Missed Penalty - Cristiano Ronaldo’36

Real Madrid was in the third position when they visited Malaga and were looking to get all three points to stay in touching distance with Atletico Madrid and league leaders Barcelona.

Real Madrid took the lead with a vicious header from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 33rd minute and was soon awarded a penalty three minutes later when Ronaldo was fouled inside the penalty box. Ronaldo struck the penalty firmly to keeper’s right but the Malaga’s goalkeeper Carlos Kameni quickly jumped to right and stopped the ball from going past him and left Ronaldo frustrated.

In the second half, Real Madrid looked out of sorts and Malaga started to put pressure and create chances which resulted in an equalizer in the 66th minute and the game finished 1-1.

Barcelona finished the season with 91 points and Real Madrid finished second with 90 points. Had Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the spot, Real Madrid could have gone on to win the match to collect three vital points and would have finished above Barcelona to win the league.