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Penalties are always a lottery. A lottery in which the striker is expected to score but a goalkeeper isn’t expected to make a save. The pressure is immense and every team needs that calm and collected player to step up to the spot.
At an emotional game, to say the least, complete with a successful Evra-Suarez handshake, a red card and a few dives, Robin Van Persie finally managed to break the United penalty curse.
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With 3 penalty misses in 3 consecutive games from Robin Van Persie himself, Javier Hernandez and Nani, Robin Van Persie stepped up after almost five minutes of delay between the penalty decision and the whistle due to an injury.
The penalty was a lot more convincing than the one taken by Nani against Galatasaray, which truly was horrid, to say the least, but it still wasn’t the perfect penalty. Pepe Reina got a hand to the spot-kick but just couldn’t keep it out.
In earlier seasons, United had the ever-reliable Cristiano Ronaldo to step up and take the spot-kick. After the legendary No. 7′s departure to Real Madrid, United have always depended on Wayne Rooney to score from the spot. Are United really that incompetent with penalties without Wayne Rooney even after the signing of the likes of Robin Van Persie?
