Pep Guardiola insists Man City will break penalty curse as Sergio Aguero misses spot-kick vs Leicester

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Joe Krishnan22 February 2020

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has insisted his side are not cursed with penalties after missing from the spot in their win over Leicester on Saturday.

The champions were awarded a spot-kick via VAR after Dennis Praet was adjudged to have blocked Ilkay Gundogan's shot with his arm, giving Sergio Aguero the chance to score from the spot.

But the Argentinian striker blasted his effort straight down the middle and Kasper Schmeichel made a fine stop with his knee, while moving to his right, to keep the scores level.

That was until Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to score an 80th-minute winner and send City seven points clear of Leicester with 11 games to go.

Despite missing all of their last four penalties, Guardiola insists his side will eventually end their drought from the spot and suggested the players should decide who should take penalties.

Guardiola insists his side will end their drought from the penalty spot soon enough  Photo: AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

"We have missed four penalties in a row, but maybe we will score a penalty when we need it to win something," he told Sky Sports.

"I like it when players gave the initiative to do it. We didn't score against Spurs in Champions League last season, this season against Spurs we miss a penalty, in this kind of games it's a big difference."

"The keepers are good too, but the next one we are going to score."

Riyad Mahrez, who was named man of the match against his former club, believes City reacted well to the disappointment of missing their penalty.

Sergio Aguero missed from the penalty spot after seeing Kasper Schmeichel saved his effort  Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

"We know that sometimes it happens in football," he said.

"But the most important thing is that we show a reaction together like we did last time against Tottenham and we did that with the goal."

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