Pep Guardiola After 2-0 Loss to Spurs: City Players Decide Who Takes Penalties

After Ilkay Gundogan missed from the spot in Sunday's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, Pep Guardiola said he lets his Manchester City players decide who takes penalties.

The English champions dominated for long spells but failed to take a 40th-minute lead when the Germany international's penalty was saved by Hugo Lloris.

Speaking to the BBC (h/t Alex Shaw of Goal), the manager explained after the match it's not him who decides which individual takes a penalty.

"They decide," Guardiola said. "If we scored, it would have been better maybe, but in the second half, we started well and created chances to score and didn't do that. Until [Oleksandr] Zinchenko was sent off, the rest was OK."

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The high-octane game saw Jose Mourinho's men on the back foot before half-time, and City's penalty was awarded by VAR in controversial circumstances.

Sergio Aguero was tackled by Serge Aurier in the penalty area, but referee Mike Dean signalled he believed the Spurs full-back had made contact with the ball.

Play was allowed to continue, with Spurs pushing forward, but VAR's intervention advised Dean to stop the game and award a penalty.

The length of time it took to make the call surprised the crowd and players, with both managers appearing perplexed on the touchline. When the penalty was finally taken, Gundogan's effort was kept out.

Controversy continued as Lloris attempted to gather the rebound after his save, only to be beaten to the ball by Raheem Sterling, with the forward falling to the ground after the Frenchman's challenge.

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Once again, VAR came into play, but a second penalty was not awarded. Sterling was also not booked for simulation, which would have resulted in his sending off for a second yellow.

A red was shown for City in the second half when Zinchenko was given a second yellow for a blatant charge. The moment handed the initiative to Spurs, who quickly scored through debutant Steven Bergwijn.

The 63rd-minute opener was followed by Son's winner with 19 minutes remaining.

City are now 22 points behind leaders Liverpool in second place after suffering their sixth league defeat of the campaign. The Reds have the chance to be crowned champions as early as March 21 when they play Crystal Palace.