Alex Ferguson to name Robin van Persie as regular penalty taker ahead of Nani

Alex Ferguson is set to name Robin van Persie as his regular penalty taker.

Manchester United missed a third successive spot-kick on Wednesday, this time Nani fluffing his lines against Galatasaray.

It follows Van Persie’s miss at Southampton and Javier Hernandez’s failure against Wigan.

Boss Ferguson admitted he was surprised Nani took the kick.

The winger said: “I was waiting for the keeper to make a movement but he was very clever and didn’t move until I’d chosen a side.

“He made a great save. Next time it doesn’t matter who’s going to take the penalty — we’ll score.”

Midfielder Michael Carrick joked he refused to go down despite being tripped on the way to scoring — because the penalty would probably have been missed.

United’s goal hero worked his way into the box before keeper Fernando Muslera caught him but he battled to stay on his feet.

Carrick said: “The way we are taking penalties at the moment it’s probably just as well I didn’t.

“I don’t get many goals anyway so when I get a chance I’ve got to take it.”