Hughes shocked by Lampard penalty miss
2009-12-07 - Added by
ExtraFootie
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has admitted he was stunned when Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard missed a penalty during Saturday's clash between the two sides at Eastlands.
The Blues were trailing 2-1 in the second half when Didier Drogba went down in the area under a rash challenge from behind from Nedum Onuoha which prompted referee Howard Webb to point to the spot.
However, Lampard, normally so reliable from 12 yards, failed to convert the spot-kick as Shay Given produced a wonderful save down to his right hand side to ensure City collected all three points from an eventful match.
After the match, Hughes admitted he was surprised by the 31-year-old's miss and intimated that the reason for the England midfielder's unsuccessful attempt was his failure to deal with the pressure of the moment.
"Sometimes things happen that you don't expect and I didn't expect Frank to miss," Hughes said, according to Sporting Life.
"In fairness to him, I think he understood the importance of converting that chance, which brought extra pressure."
Amazing, Lampard's penalty miss was his first for three years, with his previous failure coming way back in September 2006.