Manchester City are a soccer membership with nearly every little thing it is advisable to plan for international domination.
With an elite playmaker in Kevin De Bruyne, an electrical goalscorer in Erling Haaland and arguably the very best younger participant round in Phil Foden, City’s wealth of expertise and limitless funds make every little thing in soccer achievable.
Apart from, apparently, scoring a aim from 12 yards.
Pep Guardiola’s facet are ruthless and environment friendly in open play however have a significant stuttering downside on the subject of penalties, fluffing their strains when handed the best alternative to attain with alarming regularity.
Here’s the information behind their infamously bad file from the spot.
City’s poor penalty file got here beneath the highlight of their 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund within the Champions League.
Striker Erling Haaland had been taken off by the point the spot kick was awarded, whereas Kevin De Bruyne was on the bench as an unused substitute.
That left Mahrez as the key candidate to take the penalty, however the Algerian’s agency however central strike was batted away by Gregor Kobel. That took Mahrez’s unsuccessful penalty streak to 2 efforts, having did not convert within the earlier goalless draw with Copenhagen.
City have now missed 25 of their 80 penalties beneath Guardiola’s administration, having beforehand struggled with out having a licensed spot-kick specialist.
“Of course it’s a problem, We have missed 24 or 25 penalties since I’ve been here – most of them in the Champions League. It’s too much,” Guardiola advised BT Sport after Mahrez’s most up-to-date miss.
“I all the time admire the braveness to take them, however in fact we miss loads of penalties.
“We missed one in Copenhagen and right here as nicely. In this competitors it is wonderful margins.
“In this situation, I admire the courage [of Mahrez]. If next time, he feels it, I admire the courage [and] he will take it.”
As not too long ago as December 2021, Guardiola had praised Mahrez because the membership’s greatest penalty taker, additionally backing Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Rodri as potential alternate options. Raheem Sterling was beforehand on spot kicks however departed for Chelsea in the summertime.
Haaland’s arrival means City do have a correct possibility for penalties and he is put two away so far this season in wins in opposition to Brighton and West Ham.
All Man City missed penalties beneath Pep Guardiola
Sergio Aguero is the chief offender on the subject of lacking penalties beneath Guardiola.
The former Argentina striker missed eight in complete, together with an important one within the Champions League quarter-final exit to Tottenham, and even scuffed two in the identical recreation again in 2016 in a Champions League qualifier.
That is one in every of two instances City have missed two penalties in a single recreation beneath Guardiola, the opposite coming in October of the identical 12 months when Maarten Stekelenburg saved two efforts from Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne.
Jesus is the subsequent greatest legal responsibility from the spot, lacking six instances beneath Guardiola earlier than his transfer to Arsenal, whereas Mahrez has encountered a sticky patch of kind over the previous 12 months or so.
Haaland’s arrival has put an finish to the penalty debate at the Etihad – so long as he is on the pitch, he’ll be taking them.
The Norwegian has scored twice already from the spot this season and, given he is chasing all kinds of goalscoring data after an electrical begin, no one will likely be taking the ball off him anytime quickly.
Mahrez had mentioned earlier than Haaland arrived that he supposed to stay the first determine on spot kicks, although added that he is “open” and “not really selfish”. Given his 50% file in comparison with Haaland’s 100% this season there is not a lot of a debate, although Mahrez is very unlikely to have struck his final penalty for City.
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