PEP GUARDIOLA is ranked as the worst Premier League manager in history when it comes to his side converting penalties.
And the niche stat could give other top flight bosses an Achilles’ heel to target in future games.
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Pep Guardiola ranks as the worsr Premier League manager in history when it comes to penalty conversion rate
No manager has a worse success rate from 12 yards out than Guardiola in the history of the league with only 71 per cent of his side’s penalties hitting the back of the net.
And the unwanted stat was cemented after Erling Haaland missed his spot-kick against Sheffield United last month.
The prolific forward had a chance to put City a goal to the good, but smacked his penalty into the post.
Erling Haaland missed his penalty against Sheffield United last weekend
It is the first time he has missed a Premier League penalty, scoring seven from seven last season
The treble winners were still able to come away with all three points though as Haaland made up for his error with a goal in the second half.
It was Rodri who later slammed home the winner into the top corner after the Blades had managed to pull things level through Jayden Bogle.
And maybe Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom will be wishing his team had given away MORE penalties.
With an air of inevitability around Guardiola’s star studded City side, teams may think that giving away penalties could actually help prevent them from conceding.
But it’s probable that won’t happen, and the Premier League’s smart management will hunt for more strategically sound ways to thwart the Cityzens.
In the league last year, the Manchester team was awarded 10 penalties, and nine of them were successful.
However, Haaland did score a penalty-kick goal in City’s 5-1 victory over Fulham, giving him a hat-trick.
Guardiola will believe his penalty conversion rate puts him in elite company, though.
Managerial aristocracy When it comes to throwing away pens, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are also among the top six worst managers.
Arsene Wenger saw his players miss 27 of the 119 penalties they took during his time at Arsenal
Sir Alex Ferguson has the fifth worst conversion rate from the spot in Premier League history
Wenger has the sixth worst record with 77 per cent of penalties taken by his Arsenal players being unsuccessful.
Whilst Sir Alex has the fifth worst rate at 75 per cent – 27 of the 109 penalties taken under the watch of the Scot were missed or saved.