Dubbed the game of the weekend in the Premier League, Manchester City’s clash against Liverpool ended up being a rather disappointing 0-0.
However, the score and the point distribution come the final whistle could have been different had Riyad Mahrez found the back of the net with his 86th minute penalty.
Having missed three of his last five kicks from the spot, the Algeria international stepped up after arguing with Gabriel Jesus about who should take it, only to sky it over the crossbar, with the ball continuing to rise into the stands.
Apologising to the Brazilian after the game, saying it was his choice to let Mahrez take the penalty, Pep Guardiola probably won’t be turning to the winger again, at least not until he proves in training he’s put the miss behind him.
And, by the sound of things, that won’t take much, as the former Leicester star quickly discussed what happened with RMC Sport after the game, and was ready to move on.
He said: “There was the penalty at the end, I missed it. It could have given us the win, but it’s football, it happens. We need to move forward. I took the decision to go down the middle, the ball went high. It’s not the end of the world, we’re still first.”
Manchester City are tied at the top of the table with both Chelsea and Liverpool, as all three teams have picked up six wins and two draws from their first eight games of the season, but sit top on goal difference.
That could easily have been a two point gap, Riyad…
