Zlatan Ibrahimovic Ponders Giving Up Penalty Duties After Latest Miss

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has admitted he could let Franck Kessie take AC Milan's next penalty, after he missed his third spot-kick of the season at the weekend.

The Swede has now missed penalties in last month's Milan derby (scoring the rebound), a 3-0 win over Sparta Prague in the Europe League and this weekend's 2-2 draw against Verona – having only missed three penalties in the three years prior to this season.

Kessie has scored nine of 10 penalties for AC Milan. / Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images

Ivorian midfielder Kessie was the chosen penalty taker before Ibrahimovic re-signed for the club in December, running up a near-perfect conversion rate scoring on nine out of his 10 attempts.

Quoted by the Mail, the Swede's frustration after the draw was evident, saying: "It's obvious I'm angry, a draw today is not good, we had a lot of chances and I also missed the penalty. I might let Kessie take the next one."

Zlatan made amends for his team and brought his side back to 2-2 in added time of the second half. / Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images

Verona goalkeeper Marco Silvestri got under Ibrahimovic's skin whilst waiting for the penalty to be taken, reminding the Swede and his teammates that 'he's missed the last one'. This tactic paid dividends for his side, who kept themselves in European contention with the draw, although it was Ibrahimovic who scored the equaliser in the 93rd minute.

Ibrahimovic is just two attempts short of 100 penalties taken in his senior career, converting 83 of 98 spot kicks for an average (maths fans!) of just a shade under 85% – but is just four of eight in his current spell in Milan.