Fans were left baffled as to why Ederson was allowed to play on during Manchester City’s clash against Tottenham on Tuesday night, after he appeared to suffer a head injury in a sickening clash with Cristian Romero.
The Brazilian goalkeeper dived to stop Romero from getting a foot to a cross, and while he recovered the ball, he appeared to hit his head against Romero’s hip.
Romero was immediately concerned for the goalkeepers welfare, with Ederson lying prone on the ground, before Man City’s medical team arrived on the pitch to provide treatment.
While he returned to his feet, he did look groggy, but was remarkably allowed to play on for several minutes, before being substituted for Stefan Ortega.
Speaking on the incident, one fan wrote: ‘If you’re taking Ederson off because of the collision you do it straight away not after 5 minutes of playing.’
Another added: ‘Why on earth haven’t they subbed Ederson off? He’s clearly got to come off.’
‘Man City jokes aside, ederson should’ve been subbed off there. Hes just been presumably knocked out and he’s been allowed to play on?’ One said, while another added: ‘There is no world where Ederson should be staying on there. Get him off.’
‘I’m no Doctor, but looking at that challenge and the aftermath, how has it taken so long to get Ederson off the pitch?’
Man City had taken a 1-0 lead in the match, thanks to Erling Haaland’s second-half tap in.
Ederson was not happy to be substituted either, and was seen fuming while he walked from the pitch, before appearing to argue with Pep Guardiola on the touchline at the decision to be withdrawn.
The Spanish manager appeared to try and calm the 30-year-old, with the Brazilian appearing to kick a water bottle as he walked back towards the bench.
Gary Neville, speaking on Sky Sport’s coverage of the game, added that he too thought the decision to allow Ederson to play on was ‘strange’.
Neville said: ‘He was entitled to go for it. To protect the goalkeeper, but we’ll see again. It won’t look pretty, I’m sure, on the replay, but I have to say, Oh, the one they get the doctors on, they’re worried. To say it was a bit of a delayed reaction from the medical team.
‘Yeah, because of the injury of Edison, it’s obviously not in the interest to show you the actual replay, but on the VAR screen that we can see, it’s a genuine attempt for the ball, and as Ederson just slides through, it’s the hip of Romero, which just contacts the goalkeeper. It was a really awkward cross in behind that city defense, and just encourage Romero to go for it.
‘I hope the goalkeeper is okay. Yeah, they’re uneasy, aren’t they, the medical team. You can see them both. It’s not surprising Ederson is going to go off. It’s a strange thing as to why he was allowed to play on at all then, really, because he played on for a few minutes after the incident, obviously distraught and devastated.’
More to follow…
