The England star stepped forward to tuck away the controversial spotkick, awarded when Bernardo Silva’s cross struck Joao Moutinho in the armpit region.
But Sterling, for whom it was a 100th Premier League goal, had missed his three previous penalties for the Blues and only scored one out of five in total.
He was also missing from the scene when England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy in the summer.
Guardiola praised his star for having the guts to take it after a hat-trick of misses, but indicated that it probably would have fallen to Ilkay Gundogan or Riyad Mahrez, had either man been on the pitch.
This story is from the December 12, 2021 edition of MEN on Sunday.
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This story is from the December 12, 2021 edition of MEN on Sunday.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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