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Ex-Newcastle man Remy Cabella’s open goal miss is statistically the worst of 2022-23

If you were wondering how former Newcastle star Remy Cabella is getting on these days, he has just produced one of the worst misses of all time for Lille.

We as football fans are often guilty of underestimating just how hard the craft of finishing actually is. A striker fumbling a one-on-one with the goalkeeper will often be met with groans from the crowd.

The truth is, finishing is an art form that only a select few have ever managed to master. Even Erling Haaland can have an off day and he’s been a goalscoring cyborg this year.

Scoring goals isn’t easy. That is unless you are presented with a completely open net and are just a couple of yards from the goal itself.

That was the position Cabella recently found himself in for Lille and we can’t help but chuckle. We’ve seen some truly horrific misses over the years, but this one might just take the cake.

According to Opta, the shot had an Expected Goals (xG) Value of 0.96. That is pretty much the closest thing you are ever going to get to a guaranteed goal.

We’ve all had those moments in Sunday League where a dodgy bobble or bounce has let us down, but Cabella can’t have such complaints here.

With his side trailing 1-0, the French playmaker is presented with the perfect chance to level things up. What then follows can only be summed up as one of the worst misses of all time.

The miss is the highest xG value for a shot not ending in a goal this season in Ligue 1. Off the top of our heads, we can only think of a few misses which rival this one.

Opta themselves have made changes to their xG model over time and so it is inconclusive whether it is the worst recorded miss of all time.

“Comparing the values to the nearest hundredth with previous shots is a bit limiting from a methodological point of view because they are not based on exactly the same parameters”, Opta stated.

Whether it’s a record or not, we’re sure that Cabella is going to have some sleepless nights thinking this one over. What makes it all the more damming is that Lille went on to lose the game 1-0 to Reims.

In fairness to the 33-year-old, he has been having an otherwise successful season with Lille. Having produced seven goals and nine assists so far, this has been one of his most productive years.

However, across the full Ligue 1 season so far, he has underperformed his xG. His latest bizarre miss will have heavily contributed to his overall underperformance of 1.1 goals this season.

Lille currently sit fifth in Ligue 1 and are in a strong position to quality for European football next season. With games soon to come against Monaco and Marseille, he’ll be looking to get that miss out of his system as soon as possible.


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