Guardiola irked by Man City’s ongoing penalty problems

By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer

Pep Guardiola is one of soccer’s most meticulous and deep-thinking coaches but he seemingly cannot come up with an answer to a big flaw hurting his Manchester City team. The relatively simple task of converting a penalty is proving a serious problem for City. The team has failed to score 25 of its 80 penalties in all competitions, excluding shootouts, since Guardiola took charge of City in 2016. The latest player to fail was Riyad Mahrez against Borussia Dortmund in a 0-0 draw in the Champions League on Tuesday. Guardiola says “we have to improve otherwise these are the small margins in this competition that could make the difference.”