Pep Guardiola suggested he may have to change the way penalty takers are decided at Manchester City after Gabriel Jesus missed against Sheffield United.
The Brazilian saw his weak spotkick beaten away by Dean Henderson - who did admittedly look off his line when it was struck - in the first half of a tight game at Bramall Lane that was eventually settled by the one goal created by some Kevin De Bruyne magic.
It is not the first time Jesus has missed this season; shooting wide in the Champions League at Atalanta contributed towards a chaotic evening that saw the Blues lose their lead and two goalkeepers. Nor is the forward alone. Raheem Sterling missed both his original kick and the retaken penalty at Wolves on December 27, while Sergio Aguero could not open the scoring in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Tottenham last season as they exited in that round.
Guardiola admitted he is concerned about the misses, and indicated that he may have to assign a taker rather than letting the players that feel confident step up.
"I have to reflect on it," he said. "I always give confidence to the players to take it but maybe I have to take the decision which guy is going to take it - not for Gabriel today because Sergio and Raheem have missed too but we are not safe. In the knockout stages, it's so important because these kind of details make the difference most of the time. We have to reflect on it. I have to make the decision [on] the guy who will take the penalty.
City's coach confirmed that he had somebody in mind, but when pushed then joked about Ederson - a player who he has previously said will not be allowed to take one out of respect for the opposition.
"Ederson is the best!" he laughed. "Believe me, he's the best taker we have in penalties. Eddy has no blood in his veins, he's so calm so he could do it.
