Every time a side is up against anyone at home, it is supposed not only to dominate it but secure full points out of it as well, and when it fails to do so, it is taken as a big fault of it and fans do not forget these mistakes easily as well.
Manchester City’s recent game with Everton at Etihad was one such game that they thoroughly dominated with more than 72% possession than their Goodison Park visitors but when they could only drew it at last, it was like a shock to all City fans who expected their side to take full points out of it. Apparently, reason for their failure to win the game is missing two penalties with Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero having their spot-kicks saved by Maarten Stekelenburg, who himself also made an incredible one-handed stop from De Bruyne‘s long-range strike. As far Aguero is concerned, it was his fourth penalty miss in the season and second in a week after his spot kick was saved by Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar in Argentina’s 1-0 defeat last Tuesday. Talking about their form in the yesterday game and if it is a frustration for them to not achieve a deserving victory, Guardiola said in a post-match news conference, “I am not frustrated with the team. When you lose in Tottenham the way you lose, you shake hands and make compliments to Everton for the way they defend.
“I am sad for the players. They deserved to win the game. They did absolutely everything to win it. Football is sometimes beautiful. We made absolutely everything. Sometimes you play bad, and you win and then today. My team will be judged but never will I change the way I want to play football, it’s the only way I have. My teams play the way I want. During that process, there are problems. We improved a lot from what happened in Tottenham and Glasgow. We made a good performance. We need to improve on that and keep going.”
Likewise adding about their Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Barcelona in the Camp Nou, 45-year-old Spanish boss said, “I don’t have time to practice everything I want to practice. You can practice penalties but there is no pressure there — penalties in the crucial moment are penalties. When we missed a penalty in the first half, they had to be more open. We found the spaces in the first 30 minutes, we arrived on the byline but no-one was there.
“We created enough chances to win the game. They had one chance — it was good action from the striker. We did everything. We cannot be too disappointed because we have to travel to Barcelona.”
Guardiola: Kostas Koutsaftikis / Shutterstock.com