Manchester Metropolis are a soccer membership with nearly every thing it’s essential to plan for international domination.
With an elite playmaker in Kevin De Bruyne, an electrical goalscorer in Erling Haaland and arguably one of the best younger participant round in Phil Foden, Metropolis’s wealth of expertise and limitless funds make every thing in soccer achievable.
Other than, apparently, scoring a purpose from 12 yards.
Pep Guardiola’s aspect are ruthless and environment friendly in open play however have a serious stuttering downside with regards to penalties, fluffing their strains when handed the best alternative to attain with alarming regularity.
This is the information behind their infamously unhealthy report from the spot.
Metropolis’s poor penalty report 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 main 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 didn’t convert within the earlier goalless draw with Copenhagen.
Metropolis have now missed 25 of their 80 penalties beneath Guardiola’s administration, having beforehand struggled with out having a licensed spot-kick specialist.
“After all it is an issue, We have now missed 24 or 25 penalties since I have been right here – most of them within the Champions League. It is an excessive amount of,” Guardiola instructed BT Sport after Mahrez’s most up-to-date miss.
“I at all times admire the braveness to take them, however in fact we miss a whole lot of penalties.
“We missed one in Copenhagen and right here as effectively. On this competitors it is high quality margins.
“On this scenario, I like the braveness [of Mahrez]. If subsequent time, he feels it, I like the braveness [and] he’ll 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 Metropolis do have a correct possibility for penalties and he is put two away to this point this season in wins in opposition to Brighton and West Ham.
All Man Metropolis missed penalties beneath Pep Guardiola
Sergio Aguero is the chief offender with regards to lacking penalties beneath Guardiola.
The previous Argentina striker missed eight in whole, together with an important one within the Champions League quarter-final exit to Tottenham, and even scuffed two in the identical sport again in 2016 in a Champions League qualifier.
That’s one in every of two instances Metropolis have missed two penalties in a single sport beneath Guardiola, the opposite coming in October of the identical yr when Maarten Stekelenburg saved two efforts from Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne.
Jesus is the subsequent largest 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 yr or so.
Haaland’s arrival has put an finish to the penalty debate on 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 likely egocentric”. Given his 50% report in comparison with Haaland’s 100% this season there is not a lot of a debate, although Mahrez is extremely unlikely to have struck his final penalty for Metropolis.