Ederson says cannot afford more mistakes

EDERSON (left) believes that as a goalkeeper he has less room for error than Manchester City’s attacking players after conceding a second penalty in the space of a week.

City’s 3-1 win over Manchester United in Sunday’s derby was only blemished by Anthony Martial’s 58th-minute penalty, converted after Ederson brought down Romelu Lukaku inside the box.

Ederson rushed off his goal-line to challenge Lukaku but mistimed his run, much like he had done the previous Sunday in the 6-1 victory over Southampton when chasing down Danny Ings.

The errors have cost the 25-year-old two clean sheets and earned him some rare criticism, but Ederson believes that as a goalkeeper, his mistakes attract more scrutiny than those of his attacking teammates.

“I haven’t watched the penalty yet,” he said after the final whistle.

“I tried to retract my hands but had no time to do that. There was contact between us but I don’t know if it was enough for a penalty.

“It’s a quick decision in a moment of the game. I tried to hit the ball, it happens.

“When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, there is no one to save the goal. A striker can miss three or four chances and still score the fifth. It’s different for a goalkeeper.”

The odd mistake at the back has not proved costly for City, however, given their free-scoring form.

Sunday’s win was their third at the Etihad in the space of a week, with 15 goals scored and only two conceded in reply.

In an ominous message to their Premier League challengers, Ederson claimed City are still improving under Pep Guardiola’s management, as shown by them dropping just four points so far this season.

When asked if City are playing even better than in last year’s record-breaking campaign, the Brazilian said: “Absolutely.

“Pep’s in his third season here, it’s my second and I can see the team has a deeper understanding of his ideas. If we keep going like this, we can achieve a lot in the future.

“We did a great game and a deserved win. We were way better than United, if we had pushed more we could have got a larger result. I’m happy with this derby.” – The Independent