Man City dealt major title blow as length of Ederson injury absence emerges
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson is a major doubt for the potential title decider against Arsenal, with the injury he sustained against Liverpool expected to keep him out for up to four weeks.
The Brazilian went down after clattering into Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez, conceding a penalty in the process. Alexis Mac Allister scored the spot-kick, ensuring the spoils were shared in a frenetic match at Anfield on Sunday.
Stefan Ortega stepped in for Ederson over the weekend, and was on hand to make a big save to deny Nunez at 1-1. The German has been City's cup goalkeeper this term, starting all three FA Cup games, and is due to continue between the sticks for the quarter-final against Newcastle this coming weekend.
After that comes the international break, with Ederson now poised to sit out Brazil's friendlies against England and Spain. And he now faces a race against time to make it back for Arsenal on March 31.
Manchester City fans had been left fearing the worst after Pep Guardiola spoke to the media in the light of the Liverpool game. "It doesn't look good," the Catalan said of the keeper's injury.
Pep Guardiola went back on his word after blocking last-ditch Barcelona transfer
Ortega has played 10 times for City this season, but just three times in the league. One of those was a start against Brighton, with Ederson not deemed ready to start after an international break, while the other came from the bench when City's first-choice keeper pulled up early against Newcastle in January.
The 31-year-old has kept just two clean sheets this term, in the victories over Huddersfield and Tottenham in the FA Cup. He did keep Arsenal at bay in last season's FA Cup, though, conceding just once in six appearances in the competition as City went all the way.
How big a miss is Ederson going to be? Have your say in the comments section
Stefan Ortega replaced Ederson at Anfield (Getty Images)Back in February, Ederson backed his team to retain their Premier League title after welcoming back playmaker Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian missed several months after picking up an injury on the opening weekend of the league season, but laid on John Stones' opener at Anfield before Liverpool battled back to claim a point.
“There are still a lot of things left to happen, but I think that it’s meeting expectations,” the keeper said. “We had a very good start, then followed a dip in form and now we’re on the up again, playing good football.
“We’re ambitious, with the mentality of wanting to win it all again. I think that this is the most important thing. We’re going to fight for it and continue playing well, battling to win everything all over again.”
and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
