Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted he had a “problem” with penalties as they finished top of their Champions League group with a 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund despite Riyad Mahrez’s penalty miss. had been.
Since the Catalan took over in 2016, City have failed to score 25 of their 80 penalties, excluding shootouts.
Mahrez was fouled by Emre Can and stepped up himself, but Gregor Koble got right to save his kick.
Borussia Dortmund also went through to the last 16 with a draw, so both sides will be pleased with the result.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve missed 25 penalties, most of them in the Champions League,” Guardiola said.
“It’s too much. You always have to admire courage, but to miss so many penalties is a problem.
“We have to improve. It comes down to fine margins in this competition and these conditions can make the difference.”
City’s Champions League penalty scoring record (71%, 12/17) is actually slightly better than their Premier League record (69%, 36/52).
Former Scotland forward James McFadden said: “I thought it was a great penalty from Mahrez. It’s a sidefoot with a lot of power, what? is left.”
Mahrez has now missed three of his last four penalties for City, having scored nine of his first 10.
| City’s penalty takers under Guardiola (excluding shootouts) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Penalty record | % success rate |
| Sergio Aguero | 20/28 | 71 |
| Riyad Mahrez | 10/14 | 71 |
| Gabriel Jesus | 5/10 | 50 |
| Kevin de Bruyne | 7/9 | 78 |
| Raheem Sterling | 3/7 | 43 |
| Ilkay Gundogan | 4/6 | 67 |
| Yaya Toure | 3/3 | 100 |
| Erling Haaland | 2/2 | 100 |
| Rodri | 1/1 | 100 |
City boss Guardiola surprisingly replaced top scorer Erling Holland at half-time after only 13 touches. He later revealed that the Norwegian had a fever and a concussion.
Dortmund also had good chances, with 17-year-old Yusufa Mokoko going wide and debutant City keeper Stefan Ortega making several saves.
City Get Job Done But Below Best Again
City will be happy to have won their Champions League group with a game in hand, but they now have just one win in their last four games in all competitions.
Last time out in Europe they drew 0-0 in Copenhagen, and then lost their unbeaten league record to Liverpool – before beating Brighton on Saturday.
Guardiola mixed things up with his line-up at Dortmund, debuting 29-year-old keeper Ortega, a summer signing, with Ederson left on the bench.
The German did well to deny Karim Adeyemi and Mokoko in the first half.
Julian Alvarez, who played behind Holland, made his fourth start for the club, and was one of only three players to test Cobel – along with Alke Gundogan and Mahrez, with his failed penalty in the second half.
Nathan Akey also had a good chance.
Maybe if Haaland, with 22 goals in his first three months at City, was still going, he could have taken it.
Cancelo was also sent off, another player who will not be happy with his first half – Adeyemi did better than him on several occasions.
It’s all ultimately academic, with City topping the group amid the pre-World Cup fixture list – but recent performances have continued to come down from their early-season shock.
