Spurs' Penalty Record - Hit or Miss

In the days of Jimmy Greaves Spurs never seemed to miss a penalty but in recent times Tottenham have struggled to find a consistent penalty taker since Robbie Keane had a fairly successful period up to 2005.  Since then various players have had the opportunity from the spot but their success rate has been rather 'hit and miss'.

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Jimmy Greaves

Most Spurs fans hide behind their hands when Spurs are awarded a penalty, convinced that they're going to miss.  This is Tottenham's penalty record since 2005 to see if it's really as bad as we all think and to see if the missed penalty has had an effect on the subsequent result of the match.

Note: Penalty scored is in bold/ in blue italics for a miss 
Score at time of penalty award is in brackets after the result with the home team's score first 
Penalty shoot-outs have been omitted: Tottenham's Penalty Shoot-out Record

2011 - 12
*Dec.  2011  PL v Stoke City (a)  Adebayor  Lost 1 - 2  
                                        (Score at time of penalty award 0 - 2)  Report
*Nov. 2011  EL  v PAOK Salonika (h)  Modric  Lost 1 - 2  (0 - 2)    Report
Nov. 2011  PL  v West Bromwich Albion (a)   Adebayor  Won 3 - 1  (0 - 1)  
                                                [Penalty saved but Adebayor scored from rebound]   Report
*Oct. 2011  PL  v Newcastle United (a)  Van der Vaart  Draw 2 - 2  (0 - 0)    Report
Aug. 2011  EL  v Hearts (h)  Kane  Draw 0 - 0  [Saved]   Report

2010 - 11
*May, 2011  PL  v Liverpool (a)  Modric  Won 2 - 0  (0 - 1)
Feb. 2011  PL  v Bolton Wanderers (h)  Van der Vaart  Won 2 - 1  (1 - 0) 
[Missed with re-take having scored with first attempt and from the first penalty awarded a minute earlier] 
*Feb. 2011  PL  v Bolton Wanderers (h)  Van der Vaart  Won 2 - 1  (0 - 0)
Nov. 2010  PL  v Liverpool (h)  Defoe  Won 2 - 1  (0 - 1)  (Missed)
Nov. 2010  CL  v Werder Bremen (h)  Bale  Won  3 - 0  (2 - 0)  [Saved] 
*Nov. 2010  PL  v Arsenal (a)  Van der Vaart  Won 3 - 2  (2 - 1)
Nov. 2010  PL  v Blackburn Rovers (h)  Pavlyuchenko  Won 4 - 2  (1 - 0)  [Missed]
*Sept. 2010  CL  v FC Twente (h) Pavlyuchenko  Won 4 - 1  (2 - 1)
*Sept. 2010  CL  v FC Twente (h) Pavlyuchenko  Won 4 - 1  (1 - 0) 
Sept. 2010  CL  v FC Twente (h) Van der Vaart  Won 4 - 1  (0 - 0)  [Saved] 
*Sept. 2010  PL  v Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)  Van der Vaart  Won 3 - 1  (0 - 1)
*Aug. 2010  CL  v Young Boys Berne (h)  Crouch  Won 4 - 0  (3 - 0)

2009 - 10
*Apr. 2010  PL  v Chelsea (h)  Defoe  Won 2 - 0  (0 - 0)
Feb. 2010  FAC  v Bolton Wanderers (a)  Huddlestone  Draw 1 - 1  (1 - 1)  [Saved]
Jan. 2010  FAC  v Leeds United (h) Defoe  Draw 2 - 2  (0 - 0)  [Saved]
*Jan. 2010 FAC  v Peterborough United (h)  Keane  Won 4 - 0  (3 - 0) (Last minute penalty)
Dec. 2009  PL  v Everton (a)  Defoe Draw 2 - 2  (2 - 2)  [Saved]  (Last minute penalty)
Oct. 2009  CC  v Everton (h)  Keane  Won 2 - 0  (1 - 0)  [Saved]
                                              [Penalty saved but Keane scored following a goalmouth scramble]
*Sept. 2009  PL  v Burnley (h)  Keane  Won 5 - 0  (0 - 0)                           

2008 - 09
*May, 2009  PL  v Manchester City (h)  Keane  Won 2 - 1  (1 - 1)  (86th minute penalty)
*Apr. 2009  PL  v Blackburn Rovers (a)  Keane  Lost 1 - 2  (0 - 0)
*Jan. 2009  FAC  v Wigan Athletic (h)  Pavlyuchenko  Won 3 - 1  (1 - 0)
*Dec. 2008  CC  v Watford (a)  Pavlyuchenko  Won 2 - 1  (1 - 0)

2007 - 08
*Feb. 2008  CC Final  v Chelsea (Wembley)  Berbatov  Won 2 - 1 (aet)  (0 - 1)   Report

*Feb. 2008  PL  v Derby County (a)  Berbatov  Won 3 - 0  (2 - 0)
*Jan. 2008  FAC  v Reading (h)  Berbatov  Draw 2 - 2  (1 - 1)
Dec. 2007  PL  v Reading (h)  Keane  Won 6 - 4  (4 - 4)  [Saved]
                                                                         [Penalty saved but Defoe scored from rebound]
Dec. 2007  PL  v Arsenal (a)  Keane  Lost 1 - 2  (1 - 1)  [Saved]
*Dec. 2007  UEFA Cup  v Anderlecht (a)  Berbatov  Draw 1 - 1  (0 - 1)
*Dec. 2007  PL  v Birmingham City (h)  Keane  Lost 2 - 3   (0 - 0)  (1st minute penalty)
Dec. 2007  PL  v West Ham United (a)  Defoe  Draw 1 - 1  (1 - 1)[Saved]  (Last minute penalty) 
*Oct. 2007  PL  v Blackburn Rovers (h)  Keane  Lost 1 - 2  (0 - 0)
*Oct. 2007  PL  v Aston Villa (h)  Keane  Draw 4 - 4  (2 - 4)

2006 - 07
May, 2007  PL  v Manchester City (h)  Defoe  Won 2 - 1  (2 - 1)  [Saved]
*Apr. 2007  PL  v Wigan Athletic (a)  Keane  Draw 3 - 3  (2 - 1)
*Apr. 2007  PL  v Reading (h)  Keane  Won 1 - 0  (0 - 0)
*Mar. 2007  FAC  v Chelsea (h)  Keane  Lost 1 - 2  (0 - 2)
*Mar. 2007 PL  v West Ham United (a)  Defoe  Won 4 - 3  (2 - 0)
*Nov. 2006  PL  v Blackburn Rovers (a)  Defoe  Draw 1 - 1  (1 - 0)
*Nov. 2006  PL  v Reading (a)  Keane  Lost 1 - 3  (0 - 0)
*Oct. 2006  PL  v Portsmouth (h)  Defoe  Won 2 - 1  (1 - 0)

2005 - 06
*Apr. 2006  PL  v Everton (a)  Keane  Won 1 - 0  (0 - 0)
*Mar. 2006  PL  v West Bromwich Albion (h)  Keane  Won 2 - 1  (1 - 1)  [89th minute penalty] 
*Dec. 2005  PL  v Birmingham City (h)  Keane  Won 2 - 0  (0 - 0)
*Dec. 2005  PL  v Portsmouth (h)  Mido  Won 3 - 1  (1 - 1)  [85th minute penalty]
Dec.  2005  Pl  v Sunderland (h) Keane  Won 3 - 2  (2 - 2)  [Saved]
Sept. 2005  PL  v Aston Villa (a)  Defoe  Draw 1 - 1  (1 - 0)  [Saved]

Statistics:
Over the past seven and a half seasons, Spurs have been awarded 52 penalties.  They have scored from 35 of them which is a success rate of 67.3%.

Over the past thirty months, however, that level of success has dropped to 54.2% with thirteen scored from 24 attempts.

Of the seventeen missed penalties, 14 have been saved by the goalkeeper with only three being off target.

During this period Spurs have been awarded more than one penalty in a game on two occasions:

Feb. 2011 v Bolton (h) PL (2) - 1 success

Sept. 2010 v FC Twente (h) (CL) (3) - 2 successes

Sometimes penalties seem to be awarded in batches -

• in November, 2010 Spurs were awarded penalties in four successive matches and only scored one, at the Emirates, but won all four games.
• in December, 2005 Spurs had three penalties in four games - scored two but again won all three games

The most vital penalty was probably scored by Dimitar Berbatov against Chelsea in the 2008 Carling Cup Final which levelled the score and took the game to extra time.

Late penalties (in last five minutes) to win the game: Spurs have had five chances to win a game through a late penalty - they have accepted the offer on three occasions.  Keane (twice) and Mido have been successful but Defoe has failed on two occasions in away games at Everton and West Ham United.

Three penalties have been missed but Spurs have managed to score from the rebound or in the ensuing scramble: Adebayor (at WBA), Keane (against Everton in Carling Cup) and Defoe saved Keane when he scored against Reading.

The longest successful strike rate from the penalty spot was from December, 2005 to April, 2007 when 11 successes were recorded - Mido (1), Defoe (3) and Keane (7).

Some of Jermaine Defoe's penalty misses occurred when he had come on as a substitute for Robbie Keane or Keane had already been taken off.

The longest unsuccessful run is two which has occurred on a number of occasions.

Dimitar Berbatov (4), Modric (2), Mido (1) and Peter Crouch (1) are the only players with a 100% record from the penalty spot.

Tom Huddlestone, Gareth Bale and Harry Kane failed to score in their only penalty attempt.

Roman Pavlyuchenko is the only player who has scored two penalties in one game.

[Thanks to Ossiebale on COYS who provided the details of the penalty misses and to SpursOdyssey match reports where I was able to check details and goal times.]

[As far as I am aware the information is accurate]