Beverley’s Sam Cosgrove Misses Penalty As Birmingham City Exit The Carabao Cup

Tuesday night was a disappointing evening for Beverley’s Sam Cosgrove. He missed Birmingham City’s first penalty in a daunting penalty shootout against Norwich City in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

 

It was a disappointing night for John Eustace, too, whose side rallied from 2-0 down at Carrow Road to secure a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes, only to suffer at the cruel hands of penalties.

Online bookmakers such as SkyBet, which provides betting and free offers on English football, have made the Canaries one of the favourites for promotion this season, and it’s easy to see why. 

Tuesday’s hosts were relegated from the Premier League last season but they have managed to keep the core of their squad intact. Star men Teemu Pukki, Todd Cantwell, and Ben Gibson all remain at the club as they aim to make an immediate return to the Premier League. None of those stars started against the Blues, but that didn’t seem to matter. 

Danel Sinani and Jacob Sørensen both scored in first-half injury time, which will have made manager Dean Smith’s team talk much easier than his counterpart’s. The visitors did come roaring back, however, and Jonathan Leko pulled them a goal back shortly after the restart.

Cosgrove was brought on for Lukas Jutkiewicz with half an hour remaining and then, with the game approaching the final ten minutes, Birmingham were level after defender Jonathan Tomkinson turned into his own net. 

Unfortunately for Sam Cosgrove, however, he missed the first penalty of the shootout. Kenny McLean also missed for the hosts, which allowed the visitors back into it. But then it was Leko’s turn to taste disappointment, missing from 12 yards. Norwich would score all of their remaining penalties and secure safe passage to the second round. 

A tough night for Cosgrove 

Cosgrove has struggled for game time since moving to St. Andrews last winter for £2m. The target man was on fire north of the border with Aberdeen, prior to his move south. He bagged 47 goals in 103 appearances for the Dons but, since moving to England, has struggled. 

He was shipped out on loan to Shrewsbury Town last season and could only muster three goals for the Shropshire outfit.

He will need to take his chances this season for Birmingham, which could be few and far between, and missing decisive penalties in shootouts isn’t the ideal start to the new campaign for the Beverley-born striker.

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