Of the many ways to describe missed penalty kicks — such as “poorly taken,” “shanked” and “ballooned” — none can aptly portray the one Jason Puncheon failed to convert on Saturday.
The Crystal Palace winger could have given his team an early lead in its Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur, but he missed his penalty kick … terribly. In doing so, he made his induction into the Premier League’s hall of shame (the Penalty-Kick Takers’ Wing) a mere formality.
After Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele brought down Palace’s Marouane Chamakh in the eighth minute, Puncheon confidently stepped up to the penalty spot but his left-footed shot sailed high and wide, sparing Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the trouble of making a save.
Puncheon, 27, could only turn away in disgust after skying his effort. Perhaps he knew that the day would only get worse for him and his team.
Tottenham scored twice in the second half and blanked Palace to earn a 2-0 victory. The defeat, combined with other results, made Palace fall from 18th to 20th (dead last) in the standings.
Meanwhile, Puncheone’s miss made him the butt of many an Internet joke, which tends to happen when you miss this badly in front of a global audience.
See Puncheon’s missed penalty kick below.
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Photo via Twitter/@TEAMtalk
