MANCHESTER CITY’S shocking penalty record under Pep Guardiola has been revealed.
And the former Barcelona boss.
Since the Spaniard took over the reins at the Etihad City have taken 80 penalties – the most in the division – but only converted an appalling 55 of them.
It means they have a conversion rate of just 69 per cent.
Among players to have taken spot-kicks for Guardiola, Sergio Aguero leads the pack with 28 taken.
However, the Argentine has a success rate of just 71 per cent with 20 scored.
Riyad Mahrez, who missed a penalty during the 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund, has an equal success rate of 71 per cent with 10 scored from a possible 14.
His overall career record makes even worse reading though, with 32 pens taken and 10 missed giving him a conversion rate of 69 per cent.
The worst offenders under Guardiola were both sold over the summer in the form of Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling and Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus converted his pens at a half rate, with five scored from 10 taken.
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But Sterling endured an even worse record, with a success rate of just 43 per cent as he scored just three of the seven he took.
Despite the record of 31-year-old Mahrez, the Algerian has been in negotiations over a contract extension before his City contract expires at the end of the season – which he will hope means he will not follow his former team-mates out of the door.
The only three players not to have missed a pen under Guardiola at City are Yaya Toure, Rodri and Erling Haaland, though between them they have only taken just six in total.
The remaining two players to have taken penalties for City since Guardiola arrived are both members of the current leadership group.
Ilkay Gundogan, who according to City’s website was elected as the club’s captain by his team-mates, has scored four of the six kicks he has taken.
Meanwhile, Kevin de Bruyne enjoys the best conversation rate of those to have taken and missed pens in the past, scoring seven out of nine to earn a 78 per cent success rate.
Despite their profligate finishing from 12 yards, City are not have the worse takers in the division since Guardiola’s arrival.
Instead that title goes to Fulham, who have scored just 53 per cent of their penalties, while at the other end of the scale Brentford have scored 94 per cent of their kicks – the best in the division.
An argument could also be made in favour of the “big six” having a bias in their favour when it comes to being given penalties, with each of them coming in the top seven for penalties awarded.
Manchester United are second only to City in penalties taken with 76, while Tottenham enjoy the best success rate with 87 per cent of their kicks converted.
Liverpool have taken 55 penalties in the time frame, missing just nine.
Chelsea and Arsenal have taken 66 and 47 kicks apiece, and have 86 per cent and 83 per cent conversion rates respectively.
