Pictures from Man City v Crystal Palace
Ederson was fortunate to escape an untimely red card in the first half as Manchester City faced Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday. The hosts led 1-0 approaching the break at the Etihad Stadium but were let off after a reckless challenge from Pep Guardiola’s goalkeeper.
City were searching for back-to-back league victories after ending a four-match winless run by beating Luton Town 1-0 last weekend.
And the champions dominated the first half against Palace, who have enjoyed success at the Etihad in recent seasons.
Jack Grealish scored for the third consecutive Premier League game for the first time in his career to hand City a deserved lead on 24 minutes.
But Guardiola’s defence was split open under five minutes before the half-time whistle as Jean-Philippe Mateta found a way in behind.
Ederson rushed out of his box to close the 26-year-old down, sliding in but missing the ball and taking him out.
The Brazilian was fortunate to have a defender covering his goal, which meant referee Paul Tierney showed him a yellow card rather than a red one.
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Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, on commentary duty for BBC Radio 5 Liverpool, agreed with Tierney’s decision to book Ederson.
“The ball had run away but it is the first time they have broken the defensive line,” Lennon said.
“The touch is going way away from goal. It was probably the right call, but Ederson must have been bored and decided, ‘I’m going to go and get involved here’.”
Julian Alvarez thought he had doubled City’s lead with a free-kick early in the second half before being denied for an offside call.
However, Rico Lewis added a second shortly after, momentarily taking the game away from Palace and seemingly helping City navigate around a familiar banana skin.
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Mateta caused more problems in the latter stages, though, firing Palace back into the clash by tapping home Jeffrey Schlupp’s ball across the face of Ederson’s goal.
And Palace were left laughing in east Manchester again after Michael Olise netted a 95th-minute penalty to steal a point.
The Cityzens remain in fourth behind Arsenal and Aston Villa and will be six points behind leaders Liverpool if they beat Manchester United at Anfield tomorrow.
Next week, City will compete in the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time, facing Urawa Red Diamonds in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
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