October 26, (THEWILL) – Riyad Mahrez will “take a break” from taking penalties for Manchester City, according to club manager, Pep Guardiola, after the Algerian missed another opportunity on Tuesday.
As THEWILL reported, in the 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund, Mahrez failed to score again as Gregor Kobel kept his penalty out. It comes just after he had previously missed from 12 yards out in the previous UEFA Champions League match against Copenhagen, even though it did not matter in the end as City took the group.
The winger is not the only City player to have missed penalties in the six years since Guardiola took over. Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, and Gabriel Jesus, all of whom have since left the team, were also unsuccessful with penalties last season.
In addition to those names, Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne all missed penalties during the 2020/2021 season, bringing City’s record under Guardiola for missed penalties to an unenviable 25 from 80 attempts, excluding shootouts.
Speaking of the miss, Guardiola said: “I admire the courage and bravery of the guys who take the penalties. Riyad was exceptional two or three years ago, he shoots the penalty to go 1-1 here [in Dortmund] to help us reach the semi for the first time [in 2021]. Lately, he missed. He will reflect. He can take a break now with the penalties. He has the mentality to go there and do it.”
