Only bettered by Lewandowski; Mark Noble's incredible penalty record

There are a few certainties in football just as in life generally. However, one of the relative certainties for West Ham United fans is Mark Noble standing in the Penalty box and dispatching his penalty kick beyond the goalkeeper, into the net. And for good reason, because 38 out of 42 times, Mark Noble had done it for the Hammers, boasting an impressive 90.5% conversion rate. But Saturday, against Manchester United, was not to be his day. 

Mark Noble's Penalty miss against Manchester United

West Ham United had been running Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side rugged since the first half of their Matchday 5 EPL fixture on Saturday. The Hammers took the lead in the 30th minute through a Said Benrahma cracker but it only lasted for 5 minutes. New signing, Cristiano Ronaldo levelled the scores for United by scoring his 4th goal in 4 matches in the 35th minute of the encounter. Jesse Lingard's late goal to put United ahead seemed like the final significant act of the game. 

However, Luke Shaw was adjudged to have handled the ball in the Penalty box and a penalty kick was awarded to West Ham United in second-half added time. Dramatically, West Ham's manager, David Moyes, brought in penalty specialist, Mark Noble for the chance to win the London club a point from the game. It was not to be as David de Gea saved the penalty kick, the goalkeeper's first spot-kick save since 2016. 

Mark Noble's Penalty history & records with West Ham United

34-year-old English midfielder, Mark Noble has one of the most impressive penalty records in the world. His 90.5% penalty conversion rate is bettered by only Robert Lewandowski's 91% conversion rate. The West Ham United player had scored 38 out of 42 penalties before Saturday's miss against Manchester United. It was the first time Noble would be losing a penalty since miscuing his kick against Tom Heaton in the Burnley goal in December of 2016. 

David de Gea joins a short illustrious list of goalkeepers to have saved a Noble penalty. Matt Duke, Petr Cech, Hugo Lloris and Tom Heaton are the only goalkeepers to have denied Mark Noble from scoring from the penalty spot. In 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2019 seasons, Mark Noble scored all 5 penalties that he took. He would have made it a personal record of 6 penalties scored at 100% in a season only for Burnley's Tom Heaton to save Noble's penalty on August 16th, 2014.