SHANGHAI: Manchester City will be putting more time and effort into practising their penalties in case the new season sees them pushed to more shootouts in the Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and even the Community Shield opener against Liverpool on August 4.
An unexpected weakness in the armoury of the Premier League champions opened up in their defeat by Wolves in the pre-season Asia Trophy in Shanghai at the weekend. Raheem Sterling blazed over from 12 yards in normal time and City then saw Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva and Lukas Nmecha all have penalties saved by Rui Patricio as they were beaten 3:2 after a 0:0 draw.
City also have painful memories of their Champions League semi-final defeat by Tottenham last season when Sergio Aguero missed a penalty in the early minute of the first leg in north London. City eventually lost a dramatic tie on the away goals rule.
Guardiola, who wants to repeat last season’s unique domestic titles treble, said: “We didn’t expect that. I see my players take a penalty and I am always looking forward to scoring a goal but we have to practise to be better takers next time.”
City’s manager was pleased with other factors after a week of travel difficulties. Kevin de Bruyne, in the first half, suggested that a summer’s rest has helped put recover completely from the knee and thigh injuries which restricted him to 11 league starts last season.
Guardiola said: “He’s been top. Unfortunately last season we missed him a lot. We did incredibly well without him but we are stronger with him. Last season, because of the World Cup, he didn’t have a holiday but he has had more time to rest and he came back like he did two seasons ago.
“Hopefully he can keep his level. He’s incredibly positive in his mind and his quality speaks for itself.”
One of the academy graduates to impress in the Far East has been 17-year-old central defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis. The teenager made his first start for the club in a 4:1 win against West Ham on Wednesday and was the only City player to be given a full 90 minutes in Shanghai.
Harwood-Bellis was paired with Aymeric Laporte in the first half and John Stones after the interval. He joined City at the age of eight and captained England’s U17s at the recent European Championships.
City were without France left back Benjamin Mendy who has undergone further knee surgery and is not expected back in action until the end of September after rehabilitation in Barcelona. Mendy has suffered two serious knee injuries since arriving from Monaco for £52m in 2018.
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