Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha won’t be put off penalty duty despite shocking miss

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Simon Collings @sr_collings
10 February 2022

Wilfried Zaha is “100 per cent” ready to take another penalty for Crystal Palace, despite his shocking miss against Norwich last night.

Zaha, who struck a brilliant equaliser at Carrow Road after Teemu Pukki had opened the scoring, scuffed a penalty harmlessly wide after he slipped.

It cost Palace the chance to claim all three points, with Norwich holding on for a draw despite having just 28 per cent of the possession.

“As I ran up I felt my left foot slip as I went to stand before shooting,” said Zaha. “As soon as I felt it go, I thought: ‘This is definitely not going to go where I want it to’.

“You’ve just got to get over it. In football you haven’t got time to cry about it. I was asked if I got another pen whether I would stand up and take it – 100 percent.

“I’ve got the confidence to go up and take it, and I’ve just got to make sure I score next time.”

In contrast to his penalty, Zaha scored a brilliant goal for Palace as he marked his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.

“It probably is [one of my best goals] – I’m just happy to get a goal to be honest,” he told Palace TV after the match. “I’m happy I can score for the team, but it is one of my best ones.

“It’s very frustrating because we feel like we’ve been here too many times. I feel like we’re good enough to win these games, and we should have won it today.

“Obviously, me missing the penalty hurts even more because I feel like I could have won it for us. It’s a frustrating day, but we need to learn from this and put teams to bed.”