One of the world’s most prolific strikers, Sergio Aguero failed to land two first-half spot kicks in the back of the net but then made up for his mistakes with a hat-trick as Manchester City were guaranteed Champions League group stage football for the sixth season running with their playoff win against Steaua Bucharest.
Aguero fired his first penalty too close to Steaua keeper Florin Nita, and the second penalty was nowhere close to the target as the ball landed in the stands. The Argentine later confirmed that he had a laser pen shone in his eyes before the first of his two penalty misses which might have impacted his run up.
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He said afterwards that was the case: “Yes, but that is not an excuse. I missed the penalties and I know I have to improve and I will try to improve.” City have not made a formal complaint about the incident, so it is unlikely it will be included in the UEFA delegate's report, meaning Steaua will face no action.
Despite missing out on his penalties, manager Pep Guardiola has shown faith in Aguero by telling that the striker will keep taking penalties. This is the first time in his career Aguero missed two penalties in a game, and he has now missed four of the seven Champions League penalties he has taken for the Blues.
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Aguero also confirmed that he has never missed two penalties in the same match before, but made a witty remark about it, saying: “No, I haven’t, but I have never missed two and scored three either!
“I was happy to score so many goals, but the most important thing for me was that the team won. After I missed my first penalty, my head was spinning a bit but I thought ‘I have to carry on and try to score this one’ but I missed. I managed to score though,” said the Argentine.
He has vowed to keep taking spot kicks for the Blues: “I had a change in my mind about how to take the second penalty, and it didn’t go in unfortunately, but it’s ok. Things worked out well in the end.”
