Call it the yips, call it a problem, call it whatever you like but Manchester City are struggling from the penalty spot this season. There’s a big mental aspect when it comes to taking penalties and when you lose even the slightest bit of confidence in yourself you’re already coming in at a disadvantage.
Coming into today’s game, Manchester City had failed to score on three of their six penalties in all competitions this season (including two Sergio Aguero misses in one game). Perhaps then it’s no surprise that when City won a penalty late in the first half it was Kevin de Bruyne who stepped up to the spot.
Unfortunately for City you could change the kicker, but you couldn’t change the result.
It was a great save for Maarten Stekelenberg but he wasn’t done. City would win another penalty in the second half and this time it would be Aguero stepping back up to the spot. Call it a great day for Stekelenberg, or Aguero falling apart mentally, either way, the result was the same.
