Pep Guardiola confirms Manchester City's first-choice penalty taker after incident in 3-1 Aston Villa win
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Erling Haaland was the team's first-choice penalty taker after an incident during the Cityzen's 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Sunday, February 12.
Rodri opened the scoring for the hosts in the fourth minute of the match. Ilkay Gundogan scored the second in the 39th minute of the match.
Jack Grealish then won a penalty for the defending English champions on the stroke of half-time. Rodri wanted to take the spot kick before Gundogan intervened and handed the ball to Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian successfully put his effort past Emiliano Martinez to put Manchester City 3-0 up.
Speaking about the confusion regarding the taker of the penalty, Rodri said after the game (via talkSPORT):
“It was clear the captain decided that and I have to accept the decision. He said ‘Riyad is the normal shooter’, but I just asked because I felt confident in that moment. I understand what was said before the game has to be [implemented] so I accept the decision.”
Rodri was further asked why Haaland, Manchester City's top scorer this season, didn't take the penalty. He said:
“I don’t know. It depends on the coach who decides before the game and it was Riyad. I think we have good shooters even though we’ve been very bad the last season with penalties.”
🗣️ “I don’t know. I need to talk to them. Usually Erling [Haaland] is the first taker, Riyad [Mahrez] is the second one.”
Pep Guardiola says he will be having words with his team after the penalty taker incident. https://t.co/7F1rvH3lYO
Guardiola, however, claimed that Mahrez was Manchester City's second-choice penalty taker, with Haaland being the first-choice. He said:
“I don’t know, I need to talk to them. Normally Erling is the first taker, Riyad is the second one and Rodri was involved. I saw it from the touchline, we will see what they say tomorrow.”
Mahrez's reaction to anyone that doubted him taking the penalty over Haaland. 🤫 https://t.co/gvlyKkShUY
The Cityzens currently have 48 points on the board after 22 Premier League games and trail table-toppers Arsenal by three points, having played one more game than the Gunners.
Lee Dixon claims Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola 'was playing a little game' with Mikel Arteta with his tactics ahead of their clash
Lee Dixon opined that Pep Guardiola's decision to play three at the back during Manchester City's clash against Aston Villa might have been a ploy to mess with Mikel Arteta.
Dixon told NBC Sports (via The Boot Room):
“I think he’s got to forget Pep’s coming to town because if he starts to get too intricate with his tactics, Pep can mess with his head. And I think he’s perhaps done that today just to mess around a bit, knowing they were going to beat Villa.
"Now all of a sudden, Arteta will be looking at that and going ‘is he going to do that on Wednesday’. So I think he’s playing a little game with him today. Arteta is a big player on Wednesday. It’s what does he do, how does he set his team up, but it’s up there (in your head) where you can win a match.”
Guardiola's Manchester City will take on Arsenal at the Emirates on February 15.