Pep Guardiola explains controversial penalty

The Spanish coach said he did not interfere in the selection of Man City's penalty takers.

Pep was disappointed when Man City lost the final. Photo: Reuters .

The Etihad Stadium team suffered a 0-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on May 17. The highlight of the match was Omar Marmoush's missed penalty. However, the fans' reaction focused more on the controversial decision to give Erling Haaland's penalty to Marmoush.

During the half-time break, former player Wayne Rooney told the BBC that the decision to choose the penalty taker was pre-determined by Pep. However, in the post-match interview, the Spanish coach denied this.

"I don't know. I don't talk to them. They make their own decisions. It's always like that with penalties. I like proactive players," said Pep.

Haaland conceded the penalty but Marmoush missed.

When asked further about the matter, Pep said: "We didn't discuss it, because it was something that was discussed in previous meetings. On situations like free kicks and penalties, the feeling of the taker is very important. The players saw that Omar was ready to take it. I think Omar took a long time with the ball. He stopped, held the ball and shot — to put himself under pressure. And Dean Henderson made a great save."

The penalty awarded to Marmoush cost Haaland the chance to score in a final. The clash with Palace was the ninth final in a row in which Haaland has failed to score. If counting at Wembley, Haaland has also failed to score in all six games at this stadium.

For the first time since 2017, Man City have finished the season without any trophies (except the Community Shield). This is also the second season in Pep's coaching career that he has not won any trophy.

Haaland missed many chances on the day Man City won hard-fought Manchester City won 1-0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the match of round 27 of the Premier League on February 27.

Source: https://znews.vn/pep-guardiola-ly-giai-qua-phat-den-tranh-cai-post1553806.html