Pirès laughs off spot of bother
Monday, October 24, 2005
Article summary
Arsenal FC midfielder Robert Pirès is focusing on the funny side after a botched penalty attempt saw him try to pass to Thierry Henry.
Article body
Scuffed twice
Against Manchester City FC on Saturday, the pair bungled a cheeky penalty attempt in which Pirès was supposed to roll the ball forward for Henry to convert. However, Pirès, who had already scored from the spot in the 1-0 win, scuffed the ball twice allowing defenders to clear before referee Mike Riley awarded City a free-kick.
City unhappy
The incident caused some anger among the City players who thought it disrespectful. Pirès said: "We put some humour into soccer, it's not that bad. When I was about to kick the penalty, there was a little moment of panic in my mind. However, I thought the referee would ask us to kick it again as the ball was still on the penalty spot. Anyway, it makes us laugh now. Especially because we won."
Cruyff magic
The Arsenal attempt had echoes of a successful spot-kick taken by Johan Cruyff in a league match for AFC Ajax against Helmond Sport on 5 December 1982. Then Cruyff passed the pall forward and to his left for his on-rushing team-mate Jesper Olsen. The Danish winger then passed the ball back to Cruyff who was able to score with ease.
