Paul Pogba’s penalty miss against Wolves on Monday night moves him into sixth place among the Premier League’s all-time worst penalty takers.
Pogba has taken 18 penalties in his career, scoring 13 and missing five, but his record in the Premier League is seven from 11 which means only Kevin Phillips, Steed Malbranque, Dwight Yorke, Riyad Mahrez and Juan Pablo Angel rank ahead of him for penalties missed (must have taken at least 10 penalties).
Rashford, by comparison, has yet to miss a penalty with a perfect six from six record dating back to his UEFA Youth League days in 2015.
As a professional footballer he’s three from three with successful penalties scored against Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League.
Despite his prolific record from the spot, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists that United will keep both Rashford and Pogba as the club’s designated penalty takers.
“I’m sure you’re going to see Paul Pogba score a penalty for Man United again. Definitely,” the Norwegian said.
“Let’s see when we get the next one. We’re practising penalties still and Marcus and Paul are still on them.”
Solskjær: "I’m sure you’re gonna see Paul Pogba score a pen for #mufc again, definitely. We’re practising pens still and Marcus and Paul are still on them." #mulive
— utdreport (@utdreport) August 23, 2019
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville said that Pogba taking the ball off Rashford against Wolves was embarrassing and that penalty takers should be decided upon before games.
“Something wasn’t right there when we were watching. Something’s not right,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“All I’m holding back on, initially I was fuming with Pogba. I thought, ‘it’s typical you, it’s selfish. Why are you even thinking of taking a penalty off of a player?’
“But actually last week’s one, when I’m looking at it, against Chelsea. It’s weird. Something’s not right. And only Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is going to able to shed light on it.
“It isn’t right. We don’t just come on air tonight and say, ‘which piece of analysis are you doing? Are you doing this one or am I doing this one?’ We decide before we come on. They should decide in the dressing room who is the penalty taker. It’s embarrassing!”
