Aston Villa’s recent goal-scoring revival offers little comfort amid a mounting penalty crisis that is beginning to define their season. A 2-1 Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles halted a five-game winning streak and exposed a frailty from 12 yards that has become impossible to ignore.
Game turning point
Villa led early through Evann Guessand, but squandered several chances before conceding a leveler just before half-time.
The contest pivoted in the 79th minute when Emiliano Buendía stepped up and smashed a potential winner over the crossbar. The miss allowed the Dutch side to cling on for a memorable comeback victory and left Villa asking how different the night might have been with a composed penalty.
The growing penalty problem
The miss was Villa’s sixth penalty failure in the past 12 months, and their second European miss this season after Ollie Watkins’ miss at Bologna.
Their slide stretches across competitions, including a Carabao Cup exit decided by a penalty shootout defeat to Brentford. Since the start of last season, Villa have missed more penalties than any other Premier League club.
In Europe since 2023-24 they have converted only one of five spot-kicks.
Signs of nerves and choices under pressure
Buendía had not taken an in-game penalty since 2020 before volunteering to kick, a sign of responsibility but also of uncertain hierarchy among takers. Other named options include Jadon Sancho, John McGinn, and Morgan Rogers. Sancho remains the most experienced of that group at senior level but his last successful senior spot-kick came in early 2021.
Manager and squad reaction
Unai Emery kept a measured tone after the game, conceding the responsibility of the takers and stressing the need to become “more clinical.” He named the likely candidates and signalled that Villa will focus on making the decision process clear and the execution consistent going forward. Teammates expressed disappointment but urged the group to accept the setback and move on.
Solutions and who might fix it
The onus may fall to Austin MacPhee, Villa’s respected set-piece coach and a specialist with elite-level experience.
MacPhee’s work on routines and technique offers the clearest path back to confidence from 12 yards. If Villa are to translate their attacking form into tangible results, they must turn a string of dramatic misses into routine conversions.
