SHOULD AGUERO REALLY HAVE APOLOGISED FOR PANENKA? Manchester City just can’t seem to seal the deal. Last week we were expecting the Manchester United v Liverpool clash to determine City an early English Premier League winner, as a loss for second place United would have been the nail in their coffin. But, the match was postponed until May 13 due to rampant protests against United’s owners, which ended with fans storming Old Trafford. Now City’s celebrations are on hold yet again, as Aguero’s failed Panenka penalty (a soft touch straight down the middle designed to deceive the keeper) was easily saved by Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy on Saturday. Mendy’s been on a roll himself — he set a Champions League record this season with eight out of 11 cleans sheets, the most of any English team keeper in history of the competition. He’s not one to be trifled with. But, should Aguero really have had to apologise to ‘teams, staff and supporters’ for his ‘bad decision’? The whole thing leaves a bad taste — as City boss Pep Guardiola said afterwards, it’s the taker’s choice what to do. If it had gone in, Aguero would’ve been deemed a legend. Biggest question now is how this home loss (2-1) impacts City’s mental strength going into the Champions League final against Chelsea on May 29. As Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel put it, they can go into that crucial clash now knowing they have — and can — beat City. Things just got interesting. [COMMENT BY: Marwa Hamad, Assistant Editor]
Reuters