Josko Gvardiol explains why he REFUSED to take a penalty to complete his hat-trick in Man City’s game against Fulham and ruin his chance to make Premier League history

Josko Gvardiol has revealed the reason he turned down the opportunity to become the first defender to score a Premier League hat-trick in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Fulham.

City claimed victory at Craven Cottage to leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, but the Croatian missed out on a piece of history.

Gvardiol continued his goalscoring streak by scoring twice for Pep Guardiola’s side, before being awarded a penalty in the 97th minute.

Julian Alvarez was fouled by Issa Diop, with the Fulham defender sent off for the challenge, giving City’s defense the chance to become the first defender to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.

However, the Croatian missed the chance to write his name in the history books when he allowed Alvarez to dust himself off and take the penalty himself, despite his teammates’ urgings to take the penalty.

Josko Gvardiol scored twice for Man City but missed a hat-trick against Fulham

Gvardiol let Julian Alvarez take a stoppage-time penalty to deny him a Premier League debut

The Croatian opened the scoring for Man City by completing this move with nineteen passes.

The Argentinian obliged, calmly flicking the ball into the bottom corner to put the finishing touches on a truly magical afternoon for the reigning champions.

After the match, Gvardiol was questioned by TNT Sports why he didn’t step up and take the penalty, and he revealed that he was just following team orders.

He said: “Two more goals for me and of course another clean sheet. Really happy.

“We discussed the possibility of me taking the penalty, and of course I would have liked to do it, but we have a shooter and he takes them.

“At the end, Julian came on and he scored the goal.”

There are only thirteen minutes left for Manchester City to open the scoring in west London. Gvardiol put the finishing touches on a move that saw nineteen passes before Kevin De Bruyne threw the ball in for the defender to finish.

It was the 22-year-old’s fourth goal in seven games for the club, and he did not have to wait long to extend his streak further.

Gvardiol’s two goals mean it is now five games in seven games for the Man City defender.

Everton defender Steve Watson (right) scored a hat-trick in 2003 but did not play in defense

Twenty minutes from time, Gvardiol slotted in at the far post with a deft touch from Bernardo Silva’s free-kick to put his side 3-0 ahead, after Phil Foden had grabbed City’s second goal.

Yet he was denied a historic hat-trick as Guardiola’s men moved two points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The only defender to score a hat-trick in the Premier League was Everton’s Steve Watson. However, the goals came when Watson was not playing in defense against Leeds in 2003.

The win means the attention of the title race turns to Arsenal who travel to Manchester United tomorrow knowing they must beat Erik ten Hag’s men to keep the pressure on Manchester City ahead of their midweek clash with the Spurs.