Danny Murphy questions why Rice didn’t take the spot kick in West Ham 2-1 loss v Man Utd
West Ham United missed a chance to pick up a point against Manchester United on Sunday, with Mark Noble missing a spot-kick at the death.
The hosts opened the scoring through Said Benrahma but found themselves behind after goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jesse Lingard.
They were awarded a penalty in the closing minutes of the clash, and David Moyes brought on his skipper to take it given his brilliant record from the spot.
However, he fluffed his lines as David de Gea produced a fine save, and Danny Murphy does not understand why Declan Rice did not take the kick instead.
The pundit said on talkSPORT (as shared on their official Twitter account on Monday morning): “It’s very very hard to get in tune with the game and the technical process of passing the ball into the net in a difficult situation.
“So I’ve to agree that it was a bizarre one. It creates more pressure for the taker, for Noble, he hasn’t played a minute, has he? To ask him to come on and take the penalty in such a big game is a difficult one.
“I think Declan Rice would’ve comfortably took it… but more importantly, I don’t think it’s embarrassing for Noble that he shows some courage and say, ‘I’ll go on and take it’.”
Dropped points
West Ham were very close to securing a deserved point after a dogged performance against the Red Devils, but the missed penalty proved costly.
Rice had picked up the ball and looked set to take the penalty, but Moyes opted to go with his captain.
Had he scored, there would not have been any debates over whether bringing him on for that purpose was right or wrong.
There are no guarantees that Rice or any other player would have scored, and there is no need to blame anyone.
Noble missed his first penalty since December 2016, and it shows that even the best takers do not always score.
The Hammers put in a performance they should be proud of despite the narrow defeat, and they need to quickly move on and concentrate on how to get revenge when they visit Old Trafford on Wednesday for the third round of the League Cup.
In other West Ham news, Roy Keane has been blown away by Hammers ace as he makes prediction.
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