Even though there was no finger-pointing about Patson Daka’s saved penalty in the goalless draw at Watford, Leicester City manager Gary Rowett did say it was a ‘hugely frustrating’ moment.
Daka watched as Egil Selvik deflected his spot-kick onto the post, and that was a real blow. City couldn’t capitalise on their second-half chances and had to settle for a point, leaving Vicarage Road empty-handed.
It’s the third penalty City have missed in a row, and this time it was Daka who missed. Even though he might not have been the first name that came to mind as a reliable penalty taker, Rowett mentioned that he decided the order of takers based on their past performances. This was Daka’s fourth penalty for City, and his first miss.
The manager also pointed out that the incident, where Abdul Fatawu was tripped by Formose Mendy, should have led to a second yellow card for the Watford defender.
Rowett mentioned that there were two key moments with the penalty. First, Abdul cuts inside and is brought down just before he shoots. In his view, that should have resulted in a second yellow card.
When you see some of the tough situations just 60 yards from the goal, especially when there’s a bit of doubt and a yellow card is given, you need to be fair in the box too.
But he only gives a penalty. We have to make sure we score it. It was a great save, but when you have a chance like that, you have to score.
He (Daka) is going to be disappointed. I told the lads in there: ‘Any one of you can miss a penalty.’ It is what it is. We are frustrated and disappointed, but there is no pointing fingers or blaming anyone.
Of course, you need to score when you have the chance! What really matters is that we get past him, back him up and make sure he’s all set for the next game.
But it’s a bit of a tough spot being away from home at this point in the season, so we’ve got to make the most of it.
Rowett explained how the list of takers is chosen: ‘It’s all about looking at a player’s past performance and making a call based on that.’
We have a list of one, two and three. Patson has taken quite a few penalties in his time and scored, so it’s just one moment. It’s an important moment, and we’ll support him.
There were chances to make amends for Daka’s penalty miss, including one for the Zambian himself, who nodded a free header wide at the back post. Divine Mukasa and Ben Nelson were also denied by Selvik.
That City created those chances and conceded very little at the other end, made for an irritating afternoon for Rowett.
The manager mentioned, ‘It was quite frustrating. We saw Watford in great form, aiming for the play-offs, so we knew it would be a tough match. However, I felt we handled some of their plays quite well.’
‘They had a real aerial advantage and are a good transition threat, but I believe we managed the game well and found ourselves in some good positions.’
‘If you create as many moments and good chances as that, then winning the game is the only way to go.’
We had a couple of other opportunities. Pato’s diving header should have gone in. Divine had a good shot, and Ben had a chance at the end.
I’m happy with how we played. It’s tough to be happy when you haven’t won, but I don’t think there’s much we can do except create chances and hope we show the quality to win.
That’s the disappointment. We did enough to win the game, but we didn’t and we’re sitting here frustrated.
If you can create heaps of moments and good chances like that, then you really need to win the game.