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Worst Premier League misses

Fernando Torres produced one of the all-time jaw-dropping moments when he scuffed wide at Old Trafford © PA Photos

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When Fernando Torres missed a gaping open goal at Old Trafford, prompting the voice of commentator Martin Tyler to suddenly reach sound levels only usually employed by little girls as he screamed "Oh no!", the disbelief that swept around the ESPN office was unprecedented.

As a result, we decided to let the dust settle before considering whether Torres' miss - in Chelsea's 3-1 defeat to Manchester United - was indeed the worst in Premier League history, allowing us to provide the following rivals below...

Ronny Rosenthal - Aston Villa v Liverpool
Those not so familiar with Ronny Rosenthal might well be forgiven for thinking he sounds like a two-bob Rafael Benitez bargain buy in the mould of Andriy Voronin. After all, he was a relatively unheralded foreign import, who left the club after scoring 14 league goals in 66 appearances, and whenever his name is now mentioned in public, is comes hand-in-hand with a chuckle. However, those who witnessed Rosenthal's impact at Liverpool know the Reds would arguably not have won their 18th (and last) league title without him, scoring seven goals in the final eight games. Therefore, when he latched on to David James' long kick forward in September 1992 and rounded the Aston Villa goalkeeper at Villa Park, nobody expected what happened next. Like Torres, Rosenthal had it on his left foot, so he even allowed himself a touch to compose himself. Then, leaning back to complete the honours, he inexplicably side-footed the ball onto the bar. The goal would have handed Liverpool a 2-1 lead, but they instead went on to lose 4-2.

Nwankwo Kanu - West Brom v Middlesbrough
When Jonny Wilkinson lines up a penalty from 40 yards, you can more or less bet your mortgage (other than when he's in New Zealand) that he'll divide the posts. However, if you were to stand him directly underneath the posts, and ask him to get the ball over the bar, the likelihood is even Jonny would struggle. Kanu is different though. He always was. With West Brom desperately searching for a late equaliser at home to Middlesbrough, the gangly forward arrived at the back post, no more than a yard out. The ball was squared, the keeper was nowhere, but big Kanu could not sort his legs out in time as the ball somehow lifted high and wide. "It looked far easier to put it into the back of the net than to put it over the bar," commented exasperated manager Bryan Robson.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Sheffield United v Manchester United
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo recently claimed that people are jealous of him because he is "rich, handsome and a great player". Ironically, the true reason people don't like him is because he actually has the arrogance to come out with such a statement. However, back in November 2006, the joke was undoubtedly on him. With Manchester United leading 2-1, they were intent on catching a resilient Blades side on the counter-attack to kill the game off. Ronaldo had already missed one sitter, but for a man with such an awareness of his appearance, the next miss was highly embarrassing. Ryan Giggs cut in from the right before squaring the ball to Ronaldo - who stood poised inside the six-yard box - but with the entire goal to aim at Ronaldo somehow lifted the ball over the bar. "A great player" did you say Cristiano?

Carlos Tevez - Sunderland v Manchester City
You simply cannot have one Manchester club without the other, so it seems nowadays, so hot on the back of an embarrassed Red Devil comes an equally puzzled Citizen. Indeed, Tevez's miss was extremely similar to Ronaldo's, although the Argentine (to be fair) was at least eight yards out. Yaya Toure played the role of Giggs as he drew the keeper out of position to square for Tevez, who simply did not concentrate as he clipped the ball so softly that it almost had time to rise above the bar and then fall under it. Unfortunately for him, the ball did go over, and Sunderland went on to win 1-0 with an injury-time finish.

Maxi Rodriguez - Chelsea v Liverpool
Sweeping seamlessly from one South American to another, Liverpool's Maxi Rodriguez may have scored a wonder volley in a World Cup, but give him a six-yard tap-in and the former Atletico Madrid man is far less prolific. This was the day Fernando Torres met his former employers, having left Liverpool to join Chelsea in a £50 million move. The spotlight was on the Spaniard, but little did he know that Rodriguez was about to steal his limelight. Steven Gerrard had done well to break into the box and square the ball across goal, where Rodriguez seemed so stunned to receive the ball that he fell back, stretching out a boot that directed the ball against the bar. Fortunately for Maxi, Liverpool still won the game 1-0 thanks to Raul Meireles.

Robbie Keane - West Ham v Blackburn
Staying in London, we recall the kind of miss that every loan signing must dread as he attempts to convince his temporary employers that his mind is on the job. West Ham, in desperate need of goals to beat the drop, turned to Robbie Keane - a man most associated with London rivals Tottenham. Everybody knew Keane meant significant wages, so big money meant big expectation. The Republic of Ireland international would be worth a fortune if he could fire the Hammers out of trouble, but with the score locked at 1-1 in a must-win game against Blackburn, Keane completely missed the ball when he attempted to convert from five yards. West Ham promptly went down, and Keane jetted off to Los Angeles.

Darren Bent - Tottenham v Portsmouth
Tottenham have had their fair share of frustrating forwards over the years, with Keane positively prolific compared to the likes of Sergei Rebrov and Helder Postiga. However, they must have thought they had a genuine one-in-two man when they splashed £16.5 million on big Darren Bent. That very quickly proved not to be the case. Drawing 1-1 at home to Portsmouth, Bent was presented with the chance to win the game with a late header, but he planted it wide from six yards. "You will never get a better chance to win a match than that," manager Harry Redknapp moaned. "My missus could have scored that one. Bent did not only have part of the goal to aim for, but he had the entire net - and he put it wide. Unbelievable. I was just so frustrated."

Thierry Henry - Arsenal v Chelsea
Just to make Bent feel a little better, we thought it might be worth pointing out that even the great Thierry Henry misses golden chances. This one came against newly-loaded Chelsea, complete with "Special One" Jose Mourinho as manager. The scores were 2-2 after Henry had shaken off some "he never scores in big games" jibes with two excellent goals. However, Arsenal's tippy-tappy football penetrated the Chelsea defence late in the game, and when the ball was pulled back to Henry 10 yards out he somehow slid his effort way over the bar. Va-va-voom indeed.

Park Ji-sung - Manchester United v Middlesbrough
If there was one player to earn a reputation last season, it was arguably Park Ji-sung, who became a "player for the big occasion". Goals such as the one he scored in the Champions League quarter-finals to kill off Chelsea meant Sir Alex Ferguson started him in the final, such was the midfielder's impact at important moments. Clearly though, a home match with Middlesbrough at the back end of 2008 did not fall into the big game category. Leading 1-0, United piled forward for a clincher, with the ball falling to Park dead centre of goal, four yards out. The South Korean could have gone either side of the keeper, he could have even taken a touch, but instead he went high - too high - prompting laughter from several United fans in the crowd.

Amr Zaki - Manchester City v Wigan
We finish on a header, and this time the assist is supplied by the bar. Trailing 1-0 at Manchester City, Wigan went in search of an unlikely equaliser, and they appeared to have found one when Lee Cattermole slammed the ball against the woodwork. Joe Hart, in the City goal, had dived full stretch, so when the ball looped up and out to Amr Zaki three years out, all he had to do was the let the ball bounce off his bonce and into the net. The fiery forward flexed his neck muscles a little too much, though, sending the ball high and wide - much to the joy of the home fans.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.