The penalty is the most studied moment in football. Goalkeepers have analysts, laptops and water bottles covered in notes telling them which way a taker likes to go. Takers know this, so they practise until the routine becomes automatic. Then, every so often, someone simply changes the routine.
Ivan Toney did exactly that on Friday night. With the final seconds ticking away in Al Ahli’s win over Al Khaleej, he stepped up and scored a penalty so quickly that the goalkeeper barely had time to get set. Even the camera operator seemed to miss the start of it.
A Brace in Jeddah
The context first. Al Ahli beat Al Khaleej 4-1 in Jeddah, and Toney was at the heart of it. He scored the opening goal and then converted the penalty right at the end to complete the scoring.
That gave him 13 goals in nine Saudi Pro League games this season, which is a frightening rate for any striker in any league. Whatever you think about football in Saudi Arabia, a player scoring at that pace is doing something right.
But it was not the goal count that got people talking. It was the way he took the penalty.
The Penalty Nobody Saw Coming
Toney has always had an unusual style from the spot. He uses a very short run-up and, for a long time, he has looked straight at the goalkeeper rather than at the ball as he approaches it. It is a technique that takes a huge amount of confidence, and it has served him well.
On Friday, he kept the short run-up but added a new twist. As soon as the referee blew his whistle, he took two quick steps back and then rushed straight at the ball. There was no pause, no stare and no time for the goalkeeper, Marwan Al-Haidari, to settle.
He drilled it into the bottom left corner. Al-Haidari was left standing in the middle of his goal, and the camera only just caught up in time to see the ball hit the net.
Watch here:
How the Fans Reacted
The clip spread quickly, and the reaction was a mixture of amazement and laughter. One fan called it the strangest penalty technique they had ever seen. Another said the goalkeeper must have been so sure of how Toney would take it, only for him to do something completely different.
Several pointed out that the camera operator was caught out just as badly as the goalkeeper. One fan went as far as saying Toney deserved to be talked about among the best penalty takers in world football.
I laughed at the camera point, but I think the comment about the goalkeeper is the one that matters most. That is the whole point of what Toney did.
Why It Works
A penalty is a battle of information. The goalkeeper wants to read the taker, and the taker wants to give nothing away. Most of the clever penalty techniques we have seen over the years are about controlling that information.
Jorginho’s famous hop, for example, was designed to make the goalkeeper commit first. Toney’s no-look approach did something similar, because by watching the keeper rather than the ball, he could react to any early movement.
What he did on Friday was different. He did not try to read the goalkeeper at all. He just took away the time the goalkeeper needed to prepare. Keepers have routines too. They bounce on their line, they spread themselves, they try to make the goal look smaller. Toney struck the ball before any of that could happen.
It is also completely legal. The laws say the goalkeeper must be on his line when the ball is kicked, and the taker must wait for the referee’s whistle. Toney did both. He simply did not hang around once he had permission.
A Taker Who Loves the Pressure
None of this surprises me from Toney. He has always seemed to enjoy the moment of a penalty rather than fear it. The most famous example came at Euro 2024, when he stepped up in the quarter-final shoot-out against Switzerland and scored with that no-look technique on one of the biggest stages in the game.
I remember watching it and feeling slightly sick on his behalf. You do not try something like that in a major tournament unless you trust yourself completely. He did, and England went through.
That confidence is a big part of why this new trick works. A taker who hesitates could never pull it off. You need to know exactly where the ball is going before you have even started your run.
The Move to Saudi Arabia
Toney joined Al Ahli from Brentford in the summer of 2024 in a deal worth around £40 million. It was a move that divided opinion at the time, with plenty of people feeling he was leaving the Premier League too early.
He has been firm about the standard of the league since. Speaking to The Guardian last year, he said he felt the Saudi Pro League was on a par with the Premier League, and that Al Ahli would be close to the top four if they played in England. He also said people should not turn their noses up at it, pointing to the fact that Al Hilal had beaten Manchester City.
I am not sure I agree with all of that. I think the top of the Premier League is still a different level. But a striker with 13 goals in nine games is clearly not coasting, and moments like Friday’s penalty show he is still thinking about how to improve his game.
Will Goalkeepers Adapt?
The obvious question is whether this will work a second time. Goalkeepers and their coaches will have watched the clip by now, and the next keeper to face Toney from the spot will be ready for a quick strike.
That might be the cleverest part of it. Once a goalkeeper knows Toney might go early, he has to be ready from the moment the whistle goes. That means less time spent on his own routine and more time guessing. If Toney then slows down again, the keeper is just as uncomfortable.
As a Palace fan, I have watched our penalty takers go through every technique you can imagine, and I have seen plenty of them miss. What I have learned is that the takers who score consistently are the ones who keep the goalkeeper guessing. Toney seems to understand that better than most.
My Verdict
I think this was a brilliant bit of thinking from a player who clearly loves taking penalties. It was simple, legal and very effective, and it left a professional goalkeeper looking helpless.
I would not be surprised to see other players try it, and I would not be surprised to see some of them get it badly wrong. A quick penalty only works if the strike is perfect.
The question is what Toney will come up with next, and how long it will take goalkeepers to work out which version of him is standing over the ball.
