Pep Guardiola has spoken about the controversial penalty decision that saw Erling Haaland cede his place to Omar Marmoush in the FA Cup final.

Manchester City were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, May 17.

Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game against the run of play in the 16th minute. Palace did well to hold on despite sustained pressure from Manchester City.

The pressure nearly paid off in the 36th minute when Guardiola's side were awarded a penalty. Tyrick Mitchell was adjudged to have brought down Bernardo Silva. After a lengthy VAR check, VAR Jarred Gillett agreed with the on-field decision.

As the VAR check went on, Haaland had the ball in his hands, striking his usual predatory glance before scoring. However, after the penalty was confirmed, the Norwegian handed the ball to his teammate, much to the surprise of many.

Marmoush's ferocious shot to the left of Crystal Palace's goal was thwarted by Dean Henderson's strong hand. Haaland's rebound was equally saved by the former Manchester United goalkeeper as City were left to rue their chance to equalise.

Haaland has been Manchester City's first-choice penalty taker since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund three years ago. Before the FA Cup final, Marmoush had never taken a penalty for Manchester City, but had scored his previous seven for his former club Eintracht Frankfurt.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola revealed that he lets his players make the decision.

"I don’t know, they take the decisions on the penalties. I like the guys who take the initiative. They decide," he told BBC Sports.

"That moment for the penalty, it's the feeling and how they feel. They decided Omar was ready to take it."

The situation was further damaging as Henderson later admitted he was confident facing Marmoush's penalty than Haaland's.

"If Haaland stepped up, I wasn't sure where he would go, but when Marmoush stepped up, I knew where he was going. I knew I would save Marmoush's penalty, I knew where he was going."

Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, who was on punditry duty for the game, was of the opinion that Haaland had been relieved of penalties by Guardiola. The Norwegian hasn't scored in any of the five Wembley finals he has played in now.

"Erling Haaland is a world-class forward, but when we are talking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is no way they are giving that ball away," said Rooney, who won the 2016 FA Cup.

"When he misses chances, I think you can see it gets to him, and it does affect him. Maybe the thought of taking a penalty at Wembley might have been too much for him. You never know, he is a human being"

With no silverware to show for this season, Manchester City will be hoping to at least seal qualification for the Champions League next season. They are currently sixth with 65 points, a point behind Chelsea and Aston Villa, who have played a game more.

They play Bournemouth on Tuesday before facing Fulham in the final game next week.

In a related report, VAR explained why Dean Henderson wasn't sent off vs Manchester City.

The Crystal Palace goalkeeper was lucky to remain on the pitch after he handled the ball outside the area.

The incident denied City a clear path to goal, but the officials viewed it differently.

Source: TUKO.co.ke