Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has, on Saturday evening, admitted that he was left frustrated with a number of his players, owing to a missed opportunity from the penalty spot.
City, of course, were back in action earlier this afternoon.
Amid ongoing efforts to stave off the challenge of Arsenal atop the Premier League table, the Sky Blues welcomed Leeds United to The Etihad, eyeing a 10th league win on the spin.
And, when all was said and done in Manchester, bag all three points is precisely what the day’s hosts went on to do.
This came owing to an early brace on the part of Ilkay Gundogan, en route to a 2-1 final scoreline.
𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 attack from Manchester City 🔥
Mahrez and Gundogan link up again 🔗 pic.twitter.com/GzJpc52rrQ
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 6, 2023
As alluded to above, though, whilst his side, in the end, got the job done against Leeds, Pep Guardiola was nevertheless left frustrated by a small group of key performers.
Brace-hitter Gundogan proved the responsible party, afforded the chance to complete his hat-trick by top scorer and record-setter Erling Haaland.
Pep Guardiola wanted Erling Haaland to take the penalty 😬 pic.twitter.com/qX0erRYFok
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 6, 2023
Upon the former’s spot-kick coming crashing back off the post, though, the aforementioned Guardiola could immediately be seen furiously gesturing towards Haaland, making clear his feelings that the Norwegian should have taken responsibility of the situation.
Speaking to the media post-match, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of his side’s penalty miss was put to City’s boss.
And Guardiola went on to confirm that Haaland was his favoured taker, followed by Riyad Mahrez:
Pep: “Who knows if Erling takes the penalty and misses, what happens if Riyad takes and misses?What happens if Ilkay takes and scores? If it’s 2-0, taker is Erling or Riyad has to take it.” #mcfc
— Joe Bray (@_joebray) May 6, 2023
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