Guardiola backs Man City’s Aguero to come good on penalty front

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will not be demoting Sergio Aguero when it comes to penalty taking duties, insisting his striker has the right traits to bounce back from his recent struggles.

Argentine Aguero saw his spot kick saved by Maarten Stekelenburg as Manchester City had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Everton this weekend.

Worryingly for City fans, Aguero appears to be developing quite a habit of fluffing his lines from the penalty spot having now missed four attempts for both club and country this season, while he has also failed to score with four of his last five penalties in Europe.

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

His set-piece woes have not affected his form in front of goal in general however, with the 28-year-old having scored the most of any of his teammates this season.

And Guardiola admitted the willingness of his marksman to at least try and step up to the mark by taking penalties for the team was to be applauded, rather than criticised.

“I love the players who have the personality to take the penalties,” he said.

“I love it, so I never say to one player who says they want to take a penalty that they can’t, and that someone else has to. He’s intelligent.

“When he’s not being confident, then maybe I will say stay back and another guy is going to take the penalty. Sergio has the personality to step up and take the penalty.”