Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has opened up about the decision that led to Riyad Mahrez taking a penalty in the barren stalemate against Liverpool, noting that he had instructed him to the penalty.
With regular penalty taker Sergio Aguero substituted, Riyad Mahrez took over the spot-kick duties but it wasn’t without drama.
Mahrez took the ball from Gabriel Jesus with the Brazilian showing interest in taking the penalty after Guardiola calling Mendy to the touchline to deliver a message to Mahrez. The Algerian took the penalty and blazed it high, which meant that Manchester City had to settle for a draw.
Guardiola revealed that he instructed Mahrez to take the penalty, “I am in the training sessions and I see him training every day with penalties and he gave me a lot of confidence. It will be a good experience for him, next time it will go in. Gabriel wanted to take the penalty and I apologised, it was my decision.”
