Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola defended his goalkeeper, Ederson, who was judged by many as the culprit in their 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid. The Brazilian was considered at fault for two Los Blancos’ late goals in that game, which saw Carlo Ancelotti’s men surging to a comeback win at the Etihad.
Guardiola Refuses to Blame Ederson for Madrid Defeat
Man City were close to grabbing a hard-fought win against Madrid as they were 2-1 up until the 85th minute before Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham changed the script with their goals. Diaz’s goal came from Ederson’s poor pass which was intercepted and eventually led to the equalizer.
Meanwhile, in Bellingham’s goal, the Brazilian keeper made a mistake in judgement by storming off his goalline too early allowing Vinicius to assist his English international teammate. Many pundits believe that Ederson’s mistakes were the key to Man City’s failure to get a positive result but that’s not the case for Guardiola.
During the post-match press conference, the Spanish tactician defended his keeper and said that Ederson was City’s best player in that game. Guardiola believes that their failure to hold a lead is not something that should be blamed on just one individual.
“Éderson was our best player tonight, they had many chances,” Guardiola stated to the media. “Many times this has happened this season… many times. It’s just bad decisions, that’s all.
Man City will be hoping they can still turn things around in the second leg when they travel to Santiago Bernabeu. It won’t be an easy task as Madrid are known to be more formidable when playing in front of their home crowd.
