City Crisis Penalty Executor, Could Guardiola Try Ederson?

Ederson (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Mannchester City is having trouble finding a penalty kick specialist. Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne have all missed penalty kicks since the start of last season.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Ederson admitted he was the executioner of the penalty kick. The goalkeeper who is famous for his ability to beat the ball was once a penalty taker at the Portuguese club, Rio Ave.

"I didn't practice free kicks but I practiced penalties." Ederson told reporters as quoted by Antara from Reuters.

"I played for Rio (Ave), I took free kicks a few times. That was then and we had some very good free-kick takers. For penalties, I was the best penalty taker but I was not chosen to take it."

However, will manager Pep Guardiola leave that responsibility to Ederson?

Guardiola once said in 2018 about the possibility of Ederson taking a penalty: "Because he's a goalkeeper, there are other players who take penalties, respect the opponent, respect the competition."

City, who have confirmed qualification for the Champions League knockout round, face Porto in an away match in Group C on Wednesday morning.