Pep places his trust in Ederson

PEP GUARDIOLA claimed Manchester City have no doubts about under-fire goalkeeper Ederson but admitted his No 1 faces more competition than ever. Ederson’s understudy, Stefan Ortega, is set to continue his run of featuring in the cup competitions by starting against Bristol City in the FA Cup tonight. Ortega, signed for free from German side Arminia Bielefeld last summer, has impressed this season, keeping four clean sheets in seven outings. Ederson has been criticised by some fans after a number of errors, including misjudging a cross during last week’s 1-1 draw at RB Leipzig in the Champions League. Guardiola said: ‘I don’t have, and we don’t have, any doubts. How many Golden Gloves has he won? And the performances over many years to help achieve what we have achieved. Ederson is an exceptional keeper.’ The Brazilian struggled during a defeat at Tottenham and in the Manchester derby recently, with statisticians Opta suggesting that only four Premier League goalkeepers have performed worse at stopping shots this season. ‘The reality now is he has another keeper pushing him like never before,’ Guardiola added. ‘Stefan is a typical German keeper, he stays up and has incredible hand movements. He’s a really good keeper but Ederson is an important figure on and off the pitch.’