Riyad Mahrez’s woeful penalty record continues as Man City stutter in Dortmund
Mahrez #Mahrez
Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Manchester City
If Manchester City continue to re-emphasise their dominance on a weekly basis, we may well have to look at special measures to manufacture some competition. Tying weights to Erling Haaland’s thighs like a heavily handicapped horse is one option, but there’s a more simple approach: Riyad Mahrez has to take all of their penalties.
In City’s defence, they appear to be convinced by the theory of self-policing. Pep Guardiola’s head dropped, both hands glided over smooth head and he presumably uttered a few choice Catalan words. All around him, the Westfalenstadion erupted to cheer the failure of others. It’s happened again, Riyad.
It’s hard to explain City’s persistence with a player who has missed more penalties than he has scored goals in this season’s Champions League. Haaland had left the pitch, but that is no excuse for confusion. Mahrez has missed 10 of his 32 career penalties and Ilkay Gundogan, to offer just one alternative, has missed two of his 17. Mahrez also ranks seventh in the list of worst takers in Premier League history, of those who have taken at least 10.
Mahrez is floundering, a little boy lost in a sea of superstars. He is also a player who jars in these circumstances. Mahrez is at his best when everything is coming easy: the dip of the shoulder as he fools a full-back, the curling shots that remind of Arjen Robben, that great modern one-style goalscorer, the outrageous first touches to control crossfield passes. Mahrez is a bodywork footballer; we are not supposed to see the engine.
Out of form, what came blissfully easy begins to look like an awful lot of effort. You can see how that over-trying happens at this club. It’s a little like a distance runner dropping behind the chasing pack; you have to sprint just to play catch up, given the talent that surrounds you and the standards expected.
But it’s not much fun to watch. Haaland is the most regular shot taker for City in the Premier League; no shock there. But Mahrez is second, with almost three shots per game. Haaland has scored 17 league goals, Mahrez just one. It’s difficult for one to go in off your backside when your average shot is from 17 yards out.
None of this need matter much, given the multitude of weapons Guardiola possesses. It certainly didn’t matter on Tuesday: City and Dortmund both needed a point to achieve their respective aims and a 0-0 draw was a fair and just and perfectly satisfactory result. If the Westfalenstadion rocked and roared, nothing kicked the game into full tilt.
City did look disjointed. Dortmund transposed “Die Gelbe Wand” onto the pitch, a wall of five midfielders blocking passing lanes like a group of enthusiastic provincial nightclub bouncers. City played several ticks below top gear, happy to play passes sidewards and backwards, from halfway to their own penalty area, but lacked injection.
And Dortmund had more impetus. Edin Terzic has a quartet of prodigiously talented, multi-functional players who can cause an obscene amount of mischief on the counter attack. Jude Bellingham is the driving force, gliding forward until he chooses to pick out a pass. Karim Adeyemi is the dribbler out wide, Gio Reyna the schemer. Youssoufa Moukoko is the finisher, but he is still only 17 and extremely raw. Moukoko’s skewed finish from six yards was Dortmund’s best chance and their most costly.
But then can anything be costly when there is no punishment? Dortmund will qualify because they were better than Sevilla; we knew this. Manchester City will qualify because we knew that as soon as the draw was made. The mistakes don’t matter because the match didn’t matter much either. Someone looked at this competition and decided that what we needed was significantly more pre-knockout fixtures.