Former England forward Gabriel Agbonlahor has criticized Manchester United striker Benjamin Ε eΕ‘ko for his decision in the penalty shootout loss to Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday, August 27. The new signing was the final outfielder to step up to take the penalty, and the pundit believes that it portrayed the striker as a coward.
Manchester United lost 12-11 to Grimsby Town in the second round after making a comeback in normal time from 2-0 down to level the scoreline. Matheus Cunha had his effort saved, while Bryan Mbeumo missed his second effort in the shootout, which knocked out the Red Devils from the competition.
However, the talking point for Agbonlahor was Sesko's decision to delay his chance. He believes that a striker should be confident and step up instead of letting every other player take their chance before them and said on talkSPORT:
βYour star striker was probably waiting for the Man United groundsman to turn up to Grimsby and take the penalty. He was 10th in line before the keeper. How can your star striker let all the defenders take a penalty before you, then he takes one and scores it? That shows to me that heβs a coward as well.β
Manchester United paid Β£74 million to sign Sesko this summer from RB Leipzig. They are yet to score for the Red Devils, and the Carabao Cup game was his first start after coming off the bench in the two Premier League matches so far.
Pundit questions decision to give Benjamin Sesko 10th penalty in Manchester United loss
Former Chelsea player Don Hutchinson has questioned Manchester United's decision to give the 10th penalty to Benjamin Sesko. The pundit wants clarity about who made the call and said on ESPN FC:
"What's the first thing if you're a number nine for Man United that you want to do? You want to get off and running. You want to score, give yourself a bit of confidence. I know it's a penalty, but he didn't even put his hand up till number 10. So, so is this on Amorim by not picking him or did Amorim look at the players in the eyes and think, 'Right, who fancies it?' Because normally that's a giveaway."
Manchester United face Burnley next in the Premier League, with the Red Devils sitting 16th in the league table. They lost their opening match 1-0 to Arsenal, before picking up a point in the 1-1 draw at Fulham.