Sergio Aguero will be allowed to remain on Manchester City’s penalties despite failing from the spot twice in Tuesday’s emphatic Champions League win over Steaua Bucharest.
Aguero saw one effort saved and fired another over the bar, but recovered to score a hat-trick as City recorded their biggest Champions League win.
Afterwards, Pep Guardiola stood by the Argentina striker and insisted that he will be allowed to keep the penalty duties.
‘I am confident if Aguero is confident and as far as I am concerned he is still taking the penalties,’ said Guardiola.
‘Yes, he missed two penalties but after the first he wanted to take the second and I like a player who stands up to that responsibility.
‘I like that he believes he has that power.
‘I will leave it up to the players but I am happy to let him carry on.
‘The fact he missed the penalties is part of the game, but it was important that Sergio stayed focused and didn’t get down.
‘He focused on his game and after he scored three goals.
‘A penalty is a penalty. He has the personality to hit it but he was not a let-down and he scored three goals.’
Guardiola was delighted with City’s performance but less happy with defender Nicolas Otamendi for lunging into a tackle in City’s penalty box before half-time. He even gave the Argentine a dig in the ribs to reinforce his point.
‘I don’t like it when central defenders go down on the pitch,’ said Guardiola. ‘But we are here to get him better.
‘After the two penalties for us, a little situation is going to give away a penalty against us and we have to avoid that. It’s a normal situation, it’s no problem.
‘Players make mistakes when they play. When this happens we are there to tell them in a good way.
‘They are intelligent, they are professionals. They know everything we say is for the best for the team.’
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