Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that first-choice goalkeeper Ederson missed Saturday’s 4-2 friendly win over Chelsea through injury.
After losing to Celtic and AC Milan in their first two friendlies of the summer before a 2-2 draw and penalty shoot-out defeat against Barcelona, City finally had a fourth charm in pre-season in Columbus.
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City got off to a bright start against Chelsea as Erling Haaland, who was fit to start after a knock against Barcelona, scored a brace in the first five minutes of the match.
The Norway international first scored a retaken penalty after Chelsea were caught trying to play out from the back, and capitalised on a mistake from Moisés Caicedo to score his second successive goal from kick-off.
History repeated itself for Chelsea in the second half, where Oscar Bobb doubled the Citizens’ lead before Haaland completed his hat-trick straight from kick-off, although the Blues added two consolations through Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke.
Stefan Ortega was between the sticks when Sterling unleashed a tremendous volley against his former side, before being replaced by veteran Scott Carson as Ederson was nowhere to be found in the Man City squad.
The Brazil international’s future has been the subject of much debate this summer, with him believed to be on the radar of a number of Saudi Pro League clubs and said to be open to leaving the Premier League champions.
However, Ederson’s absence was not transfer-related, with Guardiola confirming he had been left out of the squad due to some “issues”, and while he could not guarantee his availability for next week’s Community Shield against Manchester United, he remains fingers crossed.
“Ederson was having problems, we didn’t want to take any risks. He didn’t train yesterday. Today he is much better. I think next week he will be better, but I didn’t want to take any risks,” Guardiola told reporters (via SportsMole).
Ortega could therefore be given the nod between the sticks at Wembley, as was the case in May’s FA Cup final against the Red Devils, where Ederson missed out with the facial injury he sustained against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
