Pep: Mahrez would have taken penalty

PEP Guardiola admits that Raheem Sterling would not have taken the City penalty that sent them clear at the top of the Premier League had other players been on the pitch.

- STUART BRENNAN

The England star stepped forward to tuck away the controversial spotkick, awarded when Bernardo Silva’s cross struck Joao Moutinho in the armpit region.

But Sterling, for whom it was a 100th Premier League goal, had missed his three previous penalties for the Blues and only scored one out of five in total.

He was also missing from the scene when England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy in the summer.

Guardiola praised his star for having the guts to take it after a hat-trick of misses, but indicated that it probably would have fallen to Ilkay Gundogan or Riyad Mahrez, had either man been on the pitch.