Celtic's penalty record isn't as bad as you may think as Hampden nerves build

By Hamish Carton

April 19, 2023

If you’re a worrier like me, there’s a fair chance you’ve imagined Celtic participating in a penalty shoot-out against Rangers at Hampden next weekend.

The Hoops are due to face our rivals at the National Stadium in a winner-takes-all semi-final tie.

That means that if, for whatever reason, the scores are tied after 120 minutes of football, penalty kicks will be used to decide the game.

While I have immense faith in Ange Postecoglou and his team to win the match during regular time, the anxiety inside me means that I simply have to consider every possible outcome.

Penalties would probably worry the majority of you reading this given our recent record, and Kyogo‘s miss on Sunday.

But, after consulting the data, the reality is actually not as bad as you may think.

Kyogo’s failure from the spot at Rugby Park ended a run of seven straight successful efforts from 12 yards.

The miss was the first since Josip Juranovic saw his penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois at the Santiago Bernabéu in early November.

Since then, Aaron Mooy (three times), Reo Hatate, Hyeongyu Oh and Jota (twice) have all netted penalties against Scottish opposition.

In total, our 2022/23 record from ten penalties reads: scored seven, missed three. (transfermarkt.co.uk)

Some fans may remember our penalty shoot-out in Sydney against Everton where Giorgos Giakoumakis and Hatate missed from the spot.

But in general, our record is better than many would think. And it’s improved from last season when we netted eight from 12.

We won’t need penalties to dispatch our rivals next weekend of course. We’ve got more than enough to beat them in regular time.

Positivity.

In other news, there’s no need to panic after a report about Matt O’Riley