Culture
Breaking down the highest-scoring penalty shootout in professional English football
Deepdale was the venue of English football’s most interminable penalty shootout on Tuesday night.
After playing out a 1-1 draw in normal time during their Carabao Cup third-round tie, Fulham and Preston North End took a record-breaking 34 penalties between them, with an astonishing 31 finding the net.
Excluding FA Cup qualifiers, this was the highest-scoring penalty shootout ever in a major English domestic competition. It surpassed the League Cup clash between Derby County and Carlisle United in 2016, which finished 14-13.
It reflects a modern trend, with all five of the highest-scoring shootouts taking place within the past 13 years. That’s perhaps indicative of the increasing attention to detail during shootouts. That was certainly the case for Fulham, according to head coach Marco Silva, although it did not pay off.
“We always prepare,” he told Fulham’s media channel. “When you play in these competitions, it is part of our routine to prepare penalties. Sometimes we repeat; not just one penalty for one player. We do it twice against the same goalkeeper. But it’s one thing to prepare in a session and another thing when it comes to a shootout decision in a competition.”
For Fulham, the shootout’s longevity surpassed a miserable night in Aldershot back in 1987, in what was then known as the Freight Rovers Cup. They were defeated 11-10 after a 1-1 draw in normal time, with 28 penalties taken. Gordon Davies, the club’s record goalscorer, took two penalties in the shootout and missed them both. For Preston, this result betters a 10-9 victory over Oldham in the 2014-15 edition of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
This result was a big upset for Paul Heckingbottom’s Championship side, knocking out a side that reached the semi-finals last season. Ryan Ledson, who also scored a sublime half-volley in normal time for Preston, netted the winning spot kick after Fulham’s Timothy Castagne blazed his strike over the bar. Reiss Nelson, who was one of 11 changes for Fulham from their draw at West Ham on Saturday, scored his side’s goal in normal time.
“The standard of penalties was really good,” Heckingbottom told Preston’s YouTube channel. “When you get that deep into it, showing the commitment in the game to get to penalties, and then they are racking up 9-9, 10-10, 11-11… the more it went on, the more I wanted to win the game. To have a positive end to that is really good.”
To mark this historic occasion, and in true The Athletic style, here is the breakdown of every single penalty on a unique night at Deepdale.
No 1: Raul Jimenez. Fulham. Scores — 0-1
Jimenez gets us under way. He takes a huge run-up, about 10 yards. He side-steps to the left, before strolling up to the ball and sending goalkeeper Freddie Woodman the wrong way. That’s going to happen a few times to both goalkeepers…
No 2. Ben Whiteman. Preston. Scores — 1-1
Preston captain Whiteman gets the hosts on the board. A quicker run-up, slight hesitation and then he blasts it to the goalkeeper’s right. Steven Benda goes the right way but can’t get close.
No 3. Sasa Lukic. Fulham. Scores — 1-2
Woodman goes the right way, but Lukic’s penalty, which is hit hard and low to the goalkeeper’s right, is out of reach.
No 4. Sam Greenwood. Preston. Scores — 2-2
The shortest run-up yet. Perhaps a moment of jeopardy, prime territory for a ridiculed delivery…
Never in doubt. Hard and low to Benda’s right. The ’keeper can’t get near it. Ominous standards set so far.
No 5. Sander Berge. Fulham. Scores — 2-3
High to Woodman’s right. A second penalty that the ’keeper has gone the right way for, but he just can’t reach it.
No 6. Jeppe Okkels. Preston. Scores — 3-3
Winger Okkels opens up his body and aims for top bins. It’s close to the side netting and while not quite top corner, he finds the net. Benda goes the right way but to no avail.
No 7. Alex Iwobi. Fulham. Scores — 3-4
Iwobi’s penalty would be a decent height for a goalkeeper, but he’s done the hard part and that is sending Woodman the wrong way. He flashes the goalkeeper a little smile. We go on.
No 8. Alistair McCann. Preston. Scores — 4-4
You don’t save those. Midfielder McCann whips the ball high and well clear of Benda.
No 9. Ryan Sessegnon. Fulham. Scores — 4-5
Sessegnon keeps his eyes fixed on the ’keeper and then sends him the wrong way, but there’s a little tension.
He celebrates by walking up to Woodman and putting his finger to his lips. So far the keeper tricks aren’t working for either side.
No 10. Milutin Osmajic. Preston. Scores — 5-5
Osmajic, the Preston striker, had the least amount of touches during the game. But he made this one count. That’s 10 out of 10 for the team’s best takers. Pretty flawless all round. Now for sudden death and those who didn’t fancy it…
No 11. Timothy Castagne. Fulham. Scores — 5-6
The night was going well for Castagne at this point. He nets his spot kick, high to the ’keeper’s right, who is sent the wrong way. There’s a fist pump to the away end. Enjoy it while it lasts, Timothy.
No 12. Ryan Ledson. Preston. Scores — 6-6
Mirrors Castagne’s penalty. High and unstoppable. The goalkeeper goes the wrong way. Not even close.
No 13. Emile Smith Rowe. Fulham. Scores — 6-7
Fulham’s club-record signing takes the first penalty of the night that looked a little dicey. Woodman goes the right way and almost gets a hand to it. The pace of the penalty carries it into the net. It’s an accurate penalty, though, right in the corner.
No 14. Liam Lindsay. Preston. Scores — 7-7
So many of Preston’s penalties are aimed high. It’s admirably ballsy. Fulham ’keeper Benda seems to dive under this one. Centre-back Lindsay’s penalty is nearer the centre than the corner, but it’s unreachable for helpless Benda. Preston’s players aren’t feeling the pressure of taking second.
No 15. Issa Diop. Fulham. Scores — 7-8
Diop takes two steps and crashes it into the net. Woodman has not started his dive by the time the ball flashes past him. A true elite centre-back penalty. Gets a few gasps for the chutzpah. If Diop is scoring belters then this is not going to end any time soon.
No 16. Jordan Storey. Preston. Scores — 8-8
Storey goes high and finds the top corner. Benda goes the right way, but even if he had guessed correctly he is not saving that. Well into territory now where questions start being asked about the goalkeepers… Crack open the Carabao cans, could be a long night.
No 17. Jorge Cuenca. Fulham. SAVED — 8-8
Now this is what a centre-back’s penalty should look like. None of this top-corner nonsense. Nice and readable, Woodman dives low to his left to parry the ball away. Big fist bump celebration. Now a chance to end the shootout…
No 18. Kaine Kesler-Hayden. Preston. SAVED — 8-8
After spending the past 10 minutes or so flailing miserably around the six-yard box, both ’keepers suddenly get off the mark. This penalty is abject. Kesler-Hayden can conclude proceedings, but his spot kick is far too straight and central.
No 19. Martial Godo. Fulham. Scores — 8-9
And… normal service resumes. Woodman dives the wrong way. Youngster Godo, 19, is clearly unhappy with Woodman, as like Sessegnon, he goes over to him and ‘shushes’ him.
No 20. Andrew Hughes. Preston. Scores — 9-9
Everyone wants this one scored. Centre-back Hughes again sends Benda the wrong way and ensures we will see both ’keepers take a kick.
No 21. Steven Benda. Fulham. Scores — 9-10
Benda pulls off an outrageous penalty. He sticks it in the top corner. On this basis, he might be better at taking them than saving them! Woodman next…
No 22. Freddie Woodman. Preston. Scores — 10-10
The same applies to Woodman. Benda goes the wrong way. Woodman fires hard and low. The show rolls on and the first-choice takers return…
No 23. Raul Jimenez. Fulham. Scores — 10-11
Taking two penalties in the same game is laced with risk. Although clearly not at Deepdale. Jimenez changes his run-up, adding a second stutter. He also sticks the ball in the top corner, above the reaches of Woodman, who did guess the right way.
No 24. Ben Whiteman. Preston. Scores — 11-11
Once the ’keepers have taken a penalty, it’s not that much fun anymore really. Benda goes close here, he gets his leg to the kick, which is fired down the middle. He thought the penalty would match the standards set earlier in the shootout. Good mind games from Whiteman.
No 25. Sasa Lukic. Fulham. Scores — 11-12
Lukic fires his penalty in the same direction and Woodman remembers that well. Shame Lukic has stuffed the ball into the top corner, though. We go on.
No 26. Sam Greenwood. Preston. Scores — 12-12
Greenwood’s well-struck penalty beats Benda at full stretch. Heckingbottom and his staff are chuckling on the touchline. Parents with bedtimes to keep in the stands are not amused. Neither are the couple hundred Fulham fans who have 190 miles to travel once this firing practice concludes.
No 27. Sander Berge. Fulham. Scores — 12-13
Berge shapes up to smack it Diop-style but then just strokes the ball into the net. Not in the corner, but it doesn’t matter as Woodman has gone the wrong way and he slumps to the turf. Surely we’re into bruising territory for the goalkeepers now. Good thing we’re not playing on Astro.
No 28. Jeppe Okkels. Preston. Scores — 13-13
Okkels’ razor–sharp penalty keeps us going. Sorry.
No 29. Alex Iwobi. Fulham. Scores — 13-14
Iwobi’s uncle, Jay-Jay Okocha, once had a penalty saved at the 1996 Olympics by Brazilian legend Dida. Iwobi doesn’t miss. We go on.
No 30. Alistair McCann. Preston. Scores — 14-14
At this point, there needs to be a handicap. Maybe each penalty has to be taken a yard further back? At the moment it feels a bit pointless having a goalkeeper. They are not getting near these kicks. Crossbar challenge, anyone?
No 31. Ryan Sessegnon. Fulham. Scores — 14-15
How’s your luck? Sessegnon tried to shush Woodman earlier, but the Preston goalkeeper does him a favour here. The ball hits the post, hits the back of Woodman and then goes in. Does that mean two goals for the ’keepers? Is this an own goal? If so, that means more goals scored by ’keepers than saves made…
No 32. Milutin Osmajic. Preston. Scores — 15-15
I always liked those old-school MLS penalties, dribbling from the halfway line. Maybe bring in a defender, too, and get a one-on-one scenario going. Anyway, all of the first-choice takers have taken two penalties and scored them. It is impressive from Preston, really, as they have taken and scored 11 penalties where a miss would have eliminated them.
No 33. Timothy Castagne. Fulham. MISS — 15-15
Finally. After 33 penalties, we have one that misses the target completely. Castagne gets it all wrong, it’s high and wide. Completely out of keeping with the standard of penalties in this shootout.
Obviously, this shootout was not going to be decided by a ’keeper save.
No 34. Ryan Ledson. Preston. Scores — 16-15
It’s over. Preston’s goalscorer in normal time seals the deal. Fittingly, he sends Benda the wrong way. A shootout of impressive quality comes to an end.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
The horror cartoonist Junji Ito, creator of popular series like “Tomie” and “Uzumaki,” is one of manga’s biggest stars in the United States. And even those who don’t know his name might find his art oddly familiar, because adaptations of his work have repeatedly crossed over into more mainstream culture — often entirely out of context.
Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about books that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions, video games and more. This week’s challenge is focused on popular books set in 18th- and 19th-century England that have been adapted for the screen. Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their filmed versions.
HUNGER LIKE A THIRST: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table, by Besha Rodell
Consider the food critic’s memoir. An author inevitably faces the threat of proportional imbalance: a glut of one (the tantalizing range of delicacies eaten) and want of the other (the nonprofessional life lived). And in this age of publicly documenting one’s every bite, it’s easier than ever to forget that to simply have dined, no matter how extravagantly, is not enough to make one interesting, or a story worth telling.
Fortunately, the life of Beshaleba River Puffin Rodell has been as unusual as her name. In fact, as she relays in the author’s note that opens “Hunger Like a Thirst,” a high school boyfriend believed she’d “made up her entire life story,” starting with her elaborate moniker.
Born in Australia on a farm called Narnia, she is the daughter of hippies. Her father, “a man of many lives and vocations,” was in his religious scholar phase, whence Beshaleba, an amalgamation of two Bible names, cometh.
Rodell’s mother returned to her native United States, with her children and new husband, when Besha was 14. Within the first 20-plus years of her life, she had bounced back and forth repeatedly between the two continents and, within the U.S., between multiple states. “‘I’m not from here’ is at the core of who I am,” she writes.
It’s also at the core of her work as a restaurant critic, and what, she convincingly argues, distinguishes her writing from that of many contemporaries. She has the distanced perspective of a foreigner, but also lacks the privilege of her counterparts, who are often male and frequently moneyed. “For better or for worse, this is the life that I have,” she writes. “The one in which a lady who can’t pay her utility bills can nonetheless go eat a big steak and drink martinis.” This, she believes, is her advantage: “Dining out was never something I took for granted.”
It started back in Narnia on the ninth birthday of her childhood best friend, who invited Rodell to tag along at a celebratory dinner at the town’s fanciest restaurant. Rodell was struck, not by the food, but by “the mesmerizing, intense luxury of it all.” From then on, despite or perhaps because of the financial stress that remains a constant in her life, she became committed to chasing that particular brand of enchantment, “the specific opulence of a very good restaurant. I never connected this longing to the goal of attaining wealth; in fact, it was the pantomiming that appealed.”
To become a writer who gets poorly compensated to dine at those very good restaurants required working multiple jobs, including, in her early days, at restaurants, while simultaneously taking on unpaid labor as an intern and attending classes.
Things didn’t get much easier once Rodell became a full-time critic and she achieved the milestones associated with industry success. She took over for Atlanta’s most-read restaurant reviewer, then for the Pulitzer-winning Jonathan Gold at L.A. Weekly. She was nominated for multiple James Beard Awards and won one for an article on the legacy of the 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor.
After moving back to Australia with her husband and son, she was hired to review restaurants for The New York Times’s Australia bureau, before becoming the global dining critic for both Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure. Juxtaposed against the jet-setting and meals taken at the world’s most rarefied restaurants is her “real” life, the one where she can barely make rent or afford groceries.
It turns out her outsider status has also left her well positioned to excavate the history of restaurant criticism and the role of those who have practiced it. She relays this with remarkable clarity and explains how it’s shaped her own work. (To illustrate how she’s put her own philosophy into practice, she includes examples of her writing.) It’s this analysis that renders Rodell’s book an essential read for anyone who’s interested in cultural criticism.
Packing all of the above into one book is a tall order, and if Rodell’s has a flaw, it’s in its structure. The moving parts can seem disjointed and, although the intention behind the structure is a meaningful one, the execution feels forced.
As she explains in her epilogue, she used the table of contents from Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” as inspiration for her own. Titled “Tony,” the section is dedicated to him. But, however genuine the sentiment, to end on a man whose shadow looms so large detracts from her own story. (If anything, Rodell’s approach feels more aligned with the work of the Gen X feminist Liz Phair, whose lyric the book’s title borrows.)
It certainly shouldn’t deter anyone from reading it. Rodell’s memoir is a singular accomplishment. And if this publication were to hire her as a dining critic in New York, there would be no complaints from this reader.
HUNGER LIKE A THIRST: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table | By Besha Rodell | Celadon | 272 pp. | $28.99
Podcast host says Jordon Hudson 'choreographed' portion of Bill Belichick's recent interview
19 billion passwords have leaked online: How to protect yourself
AI is changing shopping. Will consumers buy in?
'I hate the internet, but I got to see it': 7 Emmy contenders on fame, fandoms and more
The BoF Podcast | Inside The Great Luxury Reset
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Opinion | We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.
-
Technology1 week agoLove, Death, and Robots keeps a good thing going in volume 4
-
News1 week agoAs Harvard Battles Trump, Its President Will Take a 25% Pay Cut
-
Culture1 week ago
Book Review: ‘Hunger Like a Thirst,’ by Besha Rodell
-
Technology1 week agoMeta asks judge to throw out antitrust case mid-trial
-
Politics1 week agoRepublicans say they're 'out of the loop' on Trump's $400M Qatari plane deal
-
World1 week agoCommissioner Hansen presents plan to cut farming bureaucracy in EU
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoClassic Film Review: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ is a Lesson in Redemption | InSession Film