Fans were left confused after seeing what Southampton players did before their missed penalty against Manchester United.
At St Mary’s, the Saints had a chance to take the lead in the 32nd minute when debutant Tyler Dibling was fouled in the box by Diogo Dalot. Cameron Archer took the resulting penalty, but Andre Onana made a solid save diving to his right. Shortly after, United cleared the ball and scored themselves through defender Matthijs de Ligt just two minutes later. This sequence proved disastrous for Russell Martin’s team as they sought their first Premier League point of the season. Marcus Rashford then added a second goal before halftime with a curling 25-yard shot.
Before the penalty miss, there was some confusion among fans. Ben Brereton Diaz appeared ready to take the penalty but then let Archer take it instead. The delay before the penalty was taken added to the tension, and Archer missed the spot kick. One fan commented, “That was the most certain penalty miss I’ve ever seen. Brereton Diaz didn’t want it and passed it to Archer, who looked nervous and had to wait two minutes.”
One commenter pointed out, “Brereton Diaz has a perfect record with seven career penalties, so it made no sense to let Archer take it instead.” Another remarked, “Archer had to wait a minute before taking the penalty and then rushed at it right after the whistle. It seemed like a guaranteed miss.” A fourth observer noted, “Brereton Diaz has scored 10 out of 11 career penalties, while Archer has never taken a professional penalty.”
