Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City has a penalty saved by Gregor Kobel of Borussia Dortmund (©Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City has a penalty saved by Gregor Kobel of Borussia Dortmund (©Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

A penalty is the easiest way to score a goal. Alas, for City it's nothing like that

Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 26.10.22. | 10:13

Riyad Mahrez's last night miss against Dortmund put the cherry on top of an already horrific streak

Let's get straight to the point - since the start of the 2016-17 season, Manchester City have failed to score 25 penalties (of the 80 attempts) in all competitions! Quite unbelievable, we must say.

That 25th miss came last night, as Riyad Mahrez was denied for the second time in this UEFA Champions League season. This time it was the Borussia Dortmund keeper who stopped his shot, while the FC Kobenhavn custodian did the same a few weeks ago. Those failures prevented the Cityzens from winning in both cases, as games ended in a stalemate.

However, it seems that Pep Guardiola has lost his patience regarding such a blatant flaw after Tuesday night.

"Of course, it's a problem," Guardiola told BT Sport of the miss. "Since I was here, we missed 24 or 25 penalties, most of them in the Champions League. It's too much.

"I always admire the courage, the responsibility to do it. But we miss a lot of penalties. We have to improve. The little details and margins in this competition are the key, the difference.

"Riyad scored a lot in big important moments here [in 2021 Champions League quarter-finals]. If he feels it next time, he is going to take it. But we have to improve."

Despite such atrocious penalty-shot output, City secured the top spot in their Champions League group ahead of Dortmund, Sevilla and Kobenhavn.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Group stage - Round 5

Tuesday

Salzburg - Chelsea 1-2 (1-1)

/Adamu 48 - Kovacic 23, Havertz 64/

Sevilla - Copenhagen 3-0 (0-0)

/En-Nesyri 61, Isco 88, Montiel 90/

Dinamo Zagreb - Milan 0-4 (0-1)

/Gabbia 39, Leao 49, Giroud 59, Ljubicic (og) 69/

Celtic - Shakhtar 1-0 (1-0)

/Giakoumakis 34 - Mudryk 58/

RB Leipzig - Real Madrid 3-1 (2-1)

/Gvardiol 13, Nkunku 18, Werner 81 – Vinicius 44, Rodrygo 90+4 (p)/

Dortmund - Man.City 0-0

Benfica – Juventus 4-3 (3-1)

/Silva 17, Mario 28(p), Rafa Silva 35, 50 - Kean 22, Milik 77, McKenna 79/

PSG - Maccabi Haifa 7-2 (4-1)

/Mesi 19, 44, Mbappe 32, 64, Neymar 35, Goldberg 67, Soler 84 - Seck 38, 50/

Wednesday

19:45: (3.45) Club Brugge (3.40) Porto (2.25)

19:45: (1.13) Inter (8.50) Plzen (19.0)

22:00: (4.00) Ajax (3.80) Liverpool (1.95)

22:00: (1.23) Napoli (6.50) Rangers (12.0)

22:00: (1.80) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Leverkusen (4.60)

22:00: (2.40) Barcelona (3.60) Bayern (3.00)

22:00: (2.50) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.30) Olympique Marseille (3.10)

22:00: (1.50) Tottenham (4.50) Sporting (7.25)

***odds are subject to change***


tags

Manchester CityRiyad MahrezPep GuardiolaUEFA Champions LeagueEnglish Premier League

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