Pep Guardiola defended Riyad Mahrez after his shocking penalty miss against Liverpool. The Algerian blazed his spot-kick over the bar – making it just two goals from his last six attempts from 12 yards. Guardiola refused to criticise Riyad Mahrez despite his penalty miss at Anfield . Guardiola praised Riyad Mahrez’s courage despite the Algerian missing a late penalty in Manchester City’s goalless draw with Liverpool on Sunday.
Mahrez – who joined City from Leicester for a club-record £60m last summer – wasted a golden chance to win the game after blazing an 85th-minute penalty over the crossbar as the visitors’ wait for a league win at Anfield extended to over 15 years.
However, instead of criticising Mahrez – who was given the responsibility from the spot with first-choice penalty taker Sergio Aguero having already been substituted – Guardiola talked up his player’s mettle.
Usual taker Sergio Aguero was already on the bench when Mahrez took the ball from Gabriel Jesus in the 85th-minute. After the 0-0 bore draw, Guardiola said: “He had the courage to hit the penalty.
“In training he shoot perfect penalties but, OK, sometimes it happens. It is what it is.
“The taker was Sergio but Sergio was not there.
“Sometimes it happens. We had our chances in the last minutes to win the game but it didn’t happen.”
Guardiola admitted his side could have taken three points from Anfield – but insisted he was happy with a draw.
He added: “We controlled them in terms of counter attacks with Mane and Salah. The back four was so good.
“After that we didn’t create too much. “In the last moment we had our opportunity but it is a good result.”
Guardiola refused to criticise Riyad Mahrez despite his penalty miss at Anfield
Pep Guardiola praised Riyad Mahrez’s courage despite the Algerian missing a late penalty in Manchester City’s goalless draw with Liverpool on Sunday. Mahrez – who joined City from Leicester for a club-record £60m last summer – wasted a golden chance to win the game after blazing an 85th-minute penalty over the crossbar as the visitors’ wait for a league win at Anfield extended to over 15 years.
However, instead of criticising Mahrez – who was given the responsibility from the spot with first-choice penalty taker Sergio Aguero having already been substituted – Guardiola talked up his player’s mettle.
“The back four was so good and we made a good build-up, a lot of patience, but the problem after that was we did not create too much. But in the last moments we had some options, but it is okay, it is a good result.
“We tried, they had no shots on target, which at Anfield is quite special. We had our chance, but football is like this.
“We played so well. If you want to analyse the result, it is okay, it could be better. But at the end, the managers need to analyse what we have done and what we need to do. That is the most important thing.
“We were solid against a team that punishes your mistakes, the back four controlled it really well. It will always be better to win at Anfield, but do not lose. Last season we lost here, this season we draw and maybe next season we will win. We will see.”