Mason Mount's missed penalty kick could still have counted as a goal despite Alisson Becker's initial save during Chelsea's FA Cup final defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Saturday - if the keeper hadn't been so switched on after making the save.
The attacking midfielder and club captain Cesar Azpilicueta were the unfortunate duo to have a negative outcome on the penalty shoot-out. Mount's low driven shot was parried away by Liverpool's Brazilian shot-stopper, the second time Liverpool have won a shootout against Chelsea this season following the Carabao Cup final.
"For me as well, I missed my penalty as well," Azpilicueta said after the FA Cup final. "It’s not just Mason, we are all together here. We had the list [of penalty takers] and we all feel confident and we want to shoot. This time it happened. I’m sure Mason will have a lot of chances, he’s a young player, I’m sure he will be okay.
READ MORE: Chelsea message Jake Daniels as Blackpool star becomes first gay UK pro footballer in decades
Mount has now lost his last six finals at Wembley, which include the Championship play-off final in 2019, the Euro 2020 final, the 2022 Carabao Cup final and last three FA Cup finals. Mount was not involved in the penalty shoot-out in the Carabao Cup final earlier this season after the England international was substituted in the 74th minute. "It’s part of football. Sometimes it’s true that it looks like it is, but of course we are the first ones who are hurt," Azpilicueta continued.
"We want to do our best, we want to score the penalty and make our fans happy, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. We have to put our heads up and go for the next one. When we arrived to the penalty shoot-out, we tried to do the best we can. We were ready for it, but unfortunately, this time it didn’t happen again. It’s football, it is hard to take.
"We got over the line in the Champions League, the Super Cup, the Club World Cup, it’s the highest level. There is a fine line where two centimetres can be the difference between hitting the post and going out, or hitting the post and going in. Sometimes it’s like this. It’s difficult to describe because now the level in football is higher and higher. The margins are shorter and every detail counts. Of course it hurts when you arrive to penalties after two such big games against Liverpool in the final and to lose."
Amazingly, the 23-year-old's shot could have counted if it wasn't for his awareness of Alisson. Following the initial save, his alert nature to respond to the spinning ball which could have ended up in the back of his own net.
What could have been for Mount who nearly had his poor fortunes at Wembley changed immediately after he realised the magnitude of the initial miss.
