Dimitar Berbatov believes that Harry Kane opted to go down the middle with his penalty on Saturday because he was nervous.
The first half of the North London derby went exactly as most people expected before the game, with Arsenal dominating possession and Spurs looking dangerous on the counter-attack.
Thomas Partey gave the Gunners the lead with a brilliant curling effort into the top corner and the Lilywhites were awarded a spot kick ten minutes later after Richarlison was brought down in the box.
Kane stepped up and calmly guided the ball down the middle, with Aaron Ramsdale flinging himself to his right.
There was not much separating the two sides until the hour mark but Emerson Royal’s red card on 62 minutes effectively ended it as a contest, with the home side emerging 3-1 winners at the end.
Berbatov has remarked that Kane appeared to quite nervous when he stepped up for the spot kick.
The former Spurs striker told Premier League Productions (01/10/22 from 12:30 onwards): “We said maybe he was going to do that (go down the middle). I think it was because he was nervous. He took a long time to put the penalty away.
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“But sometimes when you strike in the middle, you aren’t sure which angle to go and you go for the sure one in the middle. It was actually a good penalty, in the end.”
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Kane always seems to do down the middle once in every four or five penalties, particularly if he has struck his previous one into the top or bottom corner.
The brilliant penalty he struck for England against Germany last week, meant that Ramsdale was always going to dive early to give himself a chance, which is why one down the middle was going to work.
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