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Football

07th Oct 2018

Gabriel Jesus was not impressed at Riyad Mahrez’ being given penalty duties at Anfield

Wayne Farry

gabriel-jesus

Gabriel Jesus likes to scores goals

He’s a footballer who plays in the position of striker and so it really isn’t very surprising that scoring goals is pretty much his modus operandi and probably his favourite thing to do in the world.

As a striker, Gabriel Jesus – like other players in his position – often jumps at the opportunity to take clear chances, such as penalties.

Also as a striker, Gabriel Jesus will often get annoyed if the opportunity to put away such a clear chance is taken away from him, which is exactly what happened to him on Sunday evening against Liverpool.

Manchester City were awarded the penalty after a poorly timed tackle from Reds defender Virgil van Dijk on City winger Leroy Sane.

Jesus stepped up to assume penalty taking duties, only to be moved aside by another winger, Riyad Mahrez, after Benjamin Mendy had run onto the pitch with instructions from the bench.

Now, Mahrez hadn’t exactly had the best display of his career but he clearly felt like this was his time to step up and grab the winner.

Gabriel Jesus did not think this though, and it was extremely clear on his face, as he made no attempt to hide his emotions whatsoever.

To his credit, he didn’t exactly sulk, but he had a look on his face which told you everything you needed to know.

In the end he was proved correct, because while Jesus was not guaranteed to score, Mahrez missed his penalty spectacularly, a miss which was his fifth out of the last eight penalties he’s taken.

Jesus was clearly disappointed (even if he felt a touch of ‘I told you so’ afterwards) and he engaged in a conversation with Pep Guardiola at full-time. We don’t need to be lip readers to know what they were talking about.

Not a great day for anyone at City, but a day which has no doubt greatly improved the Brazilian’s chances of being trusted with a penalty next time he’s on the pitch.