Icardi’s comical penalty miss sparks memories of Henry and Pires howler with Arsenal

Mauro Icardi did his best best impression of THAT Thierry Henry and Robert Pires penalty miss.

Turkish giants Galatasaray secured a 1-0 win against Istanbulspor on Tuesday, however, the Super Lig club could’ve won by more, had Icardi converted his side’s penalty.

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Kerem Akturkoglu looked set to take a normal penalty, placing the ball on the spot and waiting patiently for Istanbulspor goalkeeper David Jensen to get into position.

But after running up to the ball, he suddenly stalled, delicately passing the ball to his left to an on-running Icardi instead.

Unfortunately for the ex-Inter Milan star, though, his shot flew past the left-hand post rather than into the back of the net.

Icardi’s first half goal did end up being enough to get the win, though.

However, the spot kick embarrassment had fans across social media stunned, with many fans comparing the blunder to Henry and Pires’ similar attempt at Highbury in 2005.

The Gunners also beat Man City 1-0 that day and could’ve doubled their advantage had they not wasted a second penalty.

Pires tried to roll the ball forwards to his left to allow Henry to run in and execute the finish.

However, unluckily for Arsenal, Pires completely scuffed his pass, leaving an arriving Henry completely confused and resulting in Man City winning a free-kick instead.

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“This gives Pires and Henry’s penalty against City a run for its money at worst ever penalty,” one said on X.

Another said: “Arsenal did something similar years ago, involving Henry and Pires, with a similar outcome. Serves them right for their micky taking arrogance.”

That’s probably not quite the comparison Galatasaray were going for with Johan Cruyff the first to execute this type of penalty, while Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez got it right in their days at Barcelona.

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