Guardiola admits Ederson could end up on Man City penalties after Gundogan miss
Pep Guardiola admits he will consider placing Ederson on penalty-taking duty for Manchester City following Ilkay Gundogan’s miss against Liverpool on Sunday.
Gundogan had the chance to open the scoring for City when Fabinho brought down Raheem Sterling inside the box after 37 minutes at Anfield.
But the German stepped up in front of an empty Kop and fluffed his lines, sending his effort sailing over the crossbar.
Fortunately for Gundogan, four minutes into the second half he pounced on a rebound in the box to make up for his error and fire the visitors in front.
And after Mohamed Salah’s more accurate penalty brought Liverpool level with 25 minutes remaining, a blunder from Reds goalkeeper Alisson eventually led to Phil Foden teeing him up from close range to restore City’s lead.
Another gaffe from Alisson allowed Raheem Sterling to make it 3-1, before Foden rifled home a sensational left-footed effort to put the icing on the cake.
Though despite the win, Guardiola remains concerned about City’s woes from the penalty spot.
Gundogan’s failure was the eighth penalty his side have missed since the start of last season, which is three more than any other side.
He has previously suggested Ederson is in fact the best penalty taker at his disposal, while the goalkeeper himself also made a similar claim at the back end of last year.
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And after Gundogan squandered an opportunity to break the deadlock on Merseyside, the City manager says he will consider taking the surprise step of making Ederson his penalty taker.
When asked about his previous comments on Ederson’s penalty-taking abilities, Guardiola told reporters: “It was a half-joke!
“When I commented on this six months ago, it was a joke. Now it’s a half-joke.
“I will consider [whether] this will not be a joke and he will be a taker.
“Yeah, we don’t have a real specialist in this area.”
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