5 times Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty for Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo is widely regarded as the greatest goalscorer in the history of football. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored a mind-boggling number of goals and has broken records left, right, and center.
Ronaldo is the only footballer to have scored more than 800 goals in the 21st century. He also holds the record for most goals at international level, as well as in the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo has missed five penalties in his career with Manchester United
The Portuguese superstar has always been a prolific goalscorer, even in set-piece scenarios. However, Ronaldo is human after all and is bound to misplace a few shots. His latest miss in United’s shock defeat to Middlesbrough was the fifth time he’s missed a penalty for Manchester United.
vs Wigan (2006)
Cristiano Ronaldo has missed a penalty for Manchester United for the fourth time in his career:
❌ vs Wigan (2006)
❌ vs West Ham (2007)
❌ vs Barcelona (2008)
❌ vs Middlesbrough (2022)
It didn’t even hit the target. 😳 https://t.co/F4szinabBY
Let’s now take a look at all the times Ronaldo has failed to score from the penalty spot for Manchester United:
#5 Manchester United vs Wigan Athletic - 2006
Cristiano Ronaldo's first penalty miss for Manchester United came in their game against Wigan Athletic in December 2006 in the Premier League. He started the game on the bench along with other key players such as Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs.
Although United dominated large parts of the first half, they were unable to find a breakthrough. There was nothing separating the sides and Old Trafford was left disappointed when the referee blew for half-time. Alex Ferguson turned to Cristiano Ronaldo to make an impact in the second half.
Ronaldo headed United in front with his first touch and then stepped up to take the penalty which was shortly awarded. Ronaldo’s first attempt was parried by Chris Kirkland, but he latched onto the rebound and doubled his side’s lead. Although he scored, this is technically still considered a miss.
#4 West Ham vs Manchester United - 2007
We now take a look at Manchester United’s league game against West Ham in 2007. The defending champions took the lead thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics after he met Ryan Giggs’ pinpoint cross. The splendid move gave United a well-deserved lead in the 14th minute. United controlled the half but couldn’t add more to their goal tally.
The Red Devils were given a golden opportunity to increase their lead when Louis Saha put in an inviting cross into the box. West Ham defender Jonathan Spector accidentally handled the ball and United were awarded a penalty.
The in-form Ronaldo stepped up and was set to score what seemed to be a straight-forward spot-kick. However, Cristiano Ronaldo drilled the shot to the keeper's right and missed the goal completely.
The missed penalty proved to be crucial as West Ham then went on to win the game 2-1 thanks to goals by Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson.