Pep Guardiola frustrated as Erling Haaland shirks penalty duties | OneFootball

Man City fall at the final hurdle in the FA Cup for the second season running

Pep Guardiola declined to comment when asked whether Dean Henderson should have seen red in the first half of Saturday’s FA Cup final.

Man City came into the tie with the opportunity to win the competition for an eighth time, but fell 1-0 to a stubborn Crystal Palace. Eberechi Eze opened the scoring on the counter-attack after 16 minutes, and the Eagles dug in to grind out the result.

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Henderson could have been sent off, though, as he was seen to handle the ball outside the box while Erling Haaland was on the breakaway. VAR deemed it was not a clear obstruction of a goalscoring opportunity, though, and allowed him to play on, later saving Omar Marmoush’s penalty and making a rash of other crucial stops.

As it was pointed out that journalists do not get to speak with the referee, Guardiola joked: “Me neither.”

Marmoush stood in as an impromptu penalty taker, taking the mantle from Haaland, a decision Guardiola said the players made themselves: “They decide on the pitch. I don’t know. I didn’t speak with them yet.”

Despite the missed penalty, he felt his side could not have done anything more: "We played really good. We did everything. Unfortunately, we could not score.

"The first chance that they had in the transition [they scored]. We didn't concede much in the transition. We did everything but it's about goals, and they scored one so congratulations Crystal Palace.

"They didn't create much. A team that was in top form, defended really well, really deep, like with (former manager) Roy Hodgson. They didn't change much in those terms but it's what it is."