Erling Haaland did not take Man City's penalty in the FA Cup finalErling Haaland did not take Man City's penalty in the FA Cup final
Erling Haaland did not take Man City's penalty in the FA Cup final | Getty Images | BBC Sport
Man City were defeated by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final as Erling Haaland missed a penalty.
Wayne Rooney questioned the mentality of Erling Haaland after he allowed Omar Marmoush to take a penalty in Man City's FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace. City fell to a controversial defeat at Wembley Stadium as Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game on a frustrating afternoon for Pep Guardiola.
City dominated the match but were wasteful with the ball and rarely troubled the Palace defence. It could have been a different outcome if not for a controversial VAR check that saw Dean Henderson escape a possible red card for a deliberate handball outside of his box.
The Blues would get an incredible opportunity to level the scores when Bernardo Silva was fouled by Tyrick Mitchell in the penalty box. Haaland initially grabbed the ball and looked set to take the spot-kick before it was handed to January signing Marmoush. The Egyptian forward fired an effort low towards the bottom corner, which was saved by Henderson.
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Rooney questions Haaland mentality after penalty incident
Erling Haaland has scored 30 goals in 42 appearances for Man City this season and will rue the decision not to demand their penalty in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace. There is no guarantee the Norwegian striker would have done any better than Omar Marmoush from 12-yards out, though Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney questioned his mentality for allowing it to happen.
"Erling Haaland is a world class forward, but when we're talking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there's no way they're giving that ball away," Rooney said on BBC One. "That's what separates them two players from Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe and these players. They are selfish and they want to score every game.
"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's a human being."
Why Erling Haaland did not take Man City penalty
Speaking after the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, Man City boss Pep Guardiola revealed it was the player’s decision to hand the penalty to Omar Marmoush rather than Erling Haaland.
"They decided on the pitch. I don't know. I didn't speak with them, I don't know,” he told reporters in his post-match press conference. “That moment is how they are feeling. They decided that Omar was ready to take it. I think he took a lot of time, to put more pressure on himself and Henderson made a good save.”
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