Guardiola angry over Haaland’s penalty gesture

Guardiola angry over haaland's penalty gesture0

Pep Guardiola was furious with Manchester City’s goal-machine Erling Haaland on Saturday when the Norwegian striker defied his manager’s orders to take a penalty kick and instead passed the ball to a teammate, Ilkay Gundogan. Guardiola had instructed Haaland to take the shot, but Haaland instead passed the ball to Gundogan.

Guardiola called from the sidelines for Haaland to take the penalty that they had been granted in the final minutes of the match against Leeds United after the German midfielder had scored a first-half brace to put the Premier League leaders up 2-0. Leeds United was playing against the team that is now in first place.


But Haaland, who is only 22 years old but has already set a record for most goals scored in a single season in the Premier League with 35, took a quick look in Pep Guardiola’s direction before passing the ball to Gundogan so that the German could complete his hat trick.

It was a play that infuriated the Spanish manager to no end, especially considering that Gundogan’s shot was blocked by a diving Joel Robles.

After City’s 2-1 triumph, Guardiola was asked about Gundogan’s performance. “If Gundo scores, everyone is ‘OK, hat-trick, well done,'” he remarked. “But a taker is a taker. With a score of 2-0, this is a business and not a circumstance in which we can forget about it.

When Gundogan, who is 32 years old, went up to the penalty spot, he felt the pressure coming from Guardiola. “First, he showed to Erling that he was quite mad about that, and then also he had a go at me,” Gundogan said, according to BBC Sport. “He was quite mad about that.” “In the end, it is what it is,” the speaker said.

“As soon as Erling got his hands on the ball, I was certain that he was going to keep it for himself, but he looked out for me.” I made care to double check with him on many occasions to ensure that he was certain. It was guaranteed that he would pass the ball to me. I had no doubt that I would succeed.”

Haaland had a number of fantastic scoring opportunities, including one attempt that hit the crossbar and another that came within a hair’s breadth of hitting the post.

When Pep Guardiola met with the media after the game, City was in pursuit of a third consecutive Premier League title, and the win had extended their lead over second-placed Arsenal to four points. Guardiola’s mood had improved slightly by the time he met with the media, and he was optimistic about City’s chances.

“The performance was of the highest caliber. The Spaniard, whose team still has four league matches to play before the season is up, praised his team’s performance, saying, “We played really, really well.”Who can say for sure if Erling will take the penalty and then miss the shot? What will occur in the event that Gundo scores while on the penalty? Now that we’re at 2-0, the issue is: who will take the bet? Erling is the one who has taken it.

“This is how Erling is as a person, which brings me to my second point. He is amazing, and he loves to score goals, but he also recognizes the significance of the team and the other players. Although he failed not capitalize on his opportunities to score goals, he performed an amazing game overall.

“But it’s 2-0, and especially in England, it’s never over. I want the taker who has more routine and is a specialist to take it because they have more experience with it.” On Tuesday, the team that is going for the treble, Manchester City, will play the opening leg of their Champions League semi-final away at Real Madrid.

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