Galatasaray attempt ‘pass’ penalty – but Icardi ensures it fails spectacularly

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    Galatasaray were left with egg on their faces after squandering a penalty in embarrassing fashion.

    Struggling Istanbulspor welcomed Galatasaray at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night. Despite the contrasting fortunes of the two sides, first placed Galatasaray had not yet scored in the match when they were awarded a penalty before half-time.

    Instead of firing the ball into the net, the Turkish Super Lig giants opted for a creative approach to the spot-kick. But fans were left furious as the players made a complete hash of it.

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    Winger Kerem Akturkoglu stepped up to take the penalty for the away side but chose to lay it off sideways. Succeeding where Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Robert Pires failed two decades earlier, the ball actually went towards its intended target in Mauro Icardi.

    But the Argentine striker somehow pulled off the most spectacular miss of his career. Icardi slotted the ball wide despite the Istanbulspor keeper being left seated on the ground, leaving the goal gaping.

    The former Inter Milan captain was as shocked as any to have missed from 12 yards, holding his head in his hands. He then began to laugh in disbelief while his bemused manager turned away in frustration.

    Do you think players should be booked for passing from the penalty spot? Let us know in the comments section.

    Fans took to Twitter to voice their shock, with one user tweeting: "Are you serious?" while another added: "We need to talk about the open goal that Mauro Icardi has just missed."

    A third wrote: "He deserves to be benched for a week," and a fourth commented: "I'd have subbed the pair of them immediately for that."

    Luckily for Icardi, he was able to atone for his sin just six minutes later in the 42nd. The 30-year-old was assisted by none other than Akturkoglu just inside the box.

    He took two touches to get the ball out of his feet before finishing confidently into the bottom left corner. With that, Galatasaray were able to seal a 1-0 win and maintain their one point lead ahead of Fenerbahce.

    Fenerbahce were able to keep up the pressure on their bitter rivals with their own 1-0 win away at Alanyaspor on Sunday. Irfan Kahveci Grabbed the winner on the stroke of half-time during that fixture.

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    Icardi sought to emulate the famous Ajax team of the 1970s and 1980s with his penalty. In 1982, Johan Cruyff rolled it to team-mate Jesper Olsen, drawing the goalkeeper out before Olsen slotted home into an empty net.

    Few dared to attempt the artistic penalty pass until Henry and Pires messed up their own version in 2005. However, Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez once more dazzled spectators in 2016.

    Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi was one off 300 La Liga goals as he stepped up, but he preferred to lay the ball on a tee for Suarez to score a hat-trick. Neymar later claimed the move had almost gone wrong as the pass was meant for him, saying: "It was for me, we had practiced it in training! Leo and myself had practiced but Luis was closer and he scored it."

    • Galatasaray FC
    • Inter Milan FC

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