Ademola Lookman vows to come back stronger from penalty miss

Lookman appeared inconsolable after his penalty miss and vowed to come back stronger

Sports Staff
Sunday 08 November 2020 12:12 GMT
Comments
West Ham’s Fabian Balbuena consoles Ademola Lookman at full-time
West Ham’s Fabian Balbuena consoles Ademola Lookman at full-time (PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ademola Lookman has vowed to step up and score his next penalty as Fulham manager Scott Parker tipped him to bounce back from his spot-kick shocker against West Ham.

Six minutes into stoppage-time, Fulham - trailing 1-0 - were handed a lifeline when Said Benrahma tripped Tom Cairney in the area.

But with the last kick of the match, Lookman attempted a Panenka-style penalty and watched in horror as his harmless chip down the middle floated into the arms of Hammers goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Lookman appeared inconsolable after his penalty miss and vowed to come back stronger.

He tweeted: "After yesterdays mistake, I take full responsibility and onus for it. To my team-mates, manager and the supporters I vow to put the next one in. I will not let one failure hold me back."

Parker fumed afterwards: "You can miss a penalty, but you can't miss a penalty like that."

But the manager added: "He'll bounce back. He'll bounce back well. I know he will. He is an unbelievable character. A great professional, wants to learn. And he's made a little bit of a mistake.

"So yeah, he'll bounce back. The team will get around him. The team have let him know, I've let him know. And we move on now.

"On Saturday it was Ade. Two weeks ago, it was someone else, another individual. And this is part and parcel of the process.

"It's a young team, young players who are learning and this is what happens. Like I keep saying you need to learn quickly from these moments and keep improving."

West Ham hit the crossbar twice, through Sebastien Haller and Aaron Cresswell, but had to wait until the first minute of injury time for Tomas Soucek to sweep them ahead from Benrahma's cross.

Fulham justifiably claimed Haller was offside in the build-up but - after a VAR check - the goal stood to get Czech midfielder Soucek off the mark for the season.

"I am very happy with the goal," said Soucek. "I've had many chances so far this season and I scored a goal against Wolves which they made an own goal, so finally I've scored a normal goal for the team."

This weekend get a £10 free bet with Betfair, when you bet £10 on a Same Game Multi on the Premier League. Terms: Min £10 Same Game Multi bet on any EPL match this Fri - Sun. Free bet valid for 72 hours, awarded at bet settlement. Excludes cashed out bets. T&Cs apply.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in