Balogun given Henry advice after missing match-winning penalty

Cameron Smith

• 20 Feb 2023 11:11 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun has been told to forget about his decisive penalty miss that would've seen Reims seal victory over Nice and climb above Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1.

Balogun, 21, drew a penalty in the 55th minute of Stade Reims' 0-0 draw away to Nice after his shirt was tugged by Jean-Clair Todibo, but saw his effort saved well by former Leicester City shot-stopper Kasper Schmeichel.

The young Englishman had the opportunity to net his 16th league strike of the season, but opted for power rather than placement, allowing Schmeichel to dive to his right and make an impressive stop to deny Reims all three points.

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However, Reims manager Will Still has urged Balogun to forget about the incident, reminding him that even the greats, such as Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, miss penalties.

After the game, Still revealed: "He's very disappointed. Very, very disappointed, but it happens, and I told him at the end of the match that it was not the end of the world.

"The best players in the world, be it Zinedine Zidane or Thierry Henry have missed a penalty at some point. It's part of football.

"It's a detail and one that we'll try to correct. He's the first to recognize that, and he expects a lot of himself, and he wants to score goals. But it's nothing too serious."

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Balogun himself posted on social media after the game, writing: "Disappointed to not get the win but a performance we can be proud of! 16 games unbeaten."

Balogun's loan spell so far

The 21-year-old struggled for goals during his stint at Middlesbrough last season, netting just three times in 21 appearances, but scoring has not been a problem so far in France.

He has taken the league by storm, something that has impressed Mikel Arteta, who recently admitted: "[I'm] so happy for him. He’s a boy with a really clear idea of what he wants to do in his career.

"Really ambitious, really committed and he’s really brave. We discussed before whether it was the right place to go [on loan to Reims] and other choices that he had. He was so convinced and I’m really happy for him because he deserves what he’s getting."

Balogun was the outright leader of the Ligue 1 Golden Boot race before this weekend, but his missed penalty, combined with Kylian Mbappe's brace against Lille and Jonathan David's strike in the same game, means the trio are currently tied first on 15 goals each.