Riyad Mahrez scored a brace as Manchester City came from behind to defeat Fulham 4-1 in the FA Cup. One of the two goals was a spot kick which he converted in the 53rd minute. The victory saw Pep Guardiola’s side through to the fifth round where they will face Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough. It wasn’t a surprising result as Manchester City were expected to win the game but it seemed Guardiola was excited about one thing in particular.
Manchester City Have Found an Answer to Their Penalty Worries
Riyad Mahrez Finally Solves Manchester City’s Penalty Problem
In the recent past, Manchester City have quite struggled with scoring penalties. Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus have all been assigned penalty duties. However, none of them seemed too convincing. Guardiola once suggested giving the ‘penalty taker’ role to goalkeeper Ederson. Retired goalkeepers like Rogerio Ceni and Jose Luis Chilavert were both penalty takers for their teams. But at the moment, perhaps Guardiola has nothing to worry about. A solution has been found or so it seems- Riyad Mahrez.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola said this concerning Mahrez;
“As a player, he has a special quality. In the last year we struggled with penalties and now he is a guarantee.
“He scores every penalty he takes and especially under pressure. You take a penalty at 4-0 and it is easy but last season in Dortmund he scored when we were 1-0 down and this season 1-0 down against Arsenal he scored. He has the personality to take the ball and do it.”
Mahrez scored a penalty in Manchester City’s 6-3 win over Leicester City in December 2021. He also converted from the spot as Manchester City came from behind to defeat Arsenal 2-1 in January 2022. It’s likely the Algerian has perfected his penalty skills and Guardiola may not have any worries going forward.
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