Pep Guardiola responds to Ederson scrutiny after howlers in Man City defeat
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola refused to criticise goalkeeper Ederson in the wake of his error strewn display in his side's 2-0 defeat to bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The stopper should have prevented Anthony Martial's weak volley from giving United the lead, before he nearly gifted the same player a second goal by letting the ball roll under his foot.
And with City chasing the game in stoppage time, Ederson threw the ball straight to Scott McTominay, who fired it back beyond the hapless goalkeeper to seal a 2-0 win for United and spark wild celebrations in the home crowd.
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Guardiola did his best to keep his emotions in check after the game, which effectively means Liverpool will take their Premier League crown.
"He saved one or two, he’s an exceptional keeper," the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said when asked about Ederson's performance.
"Mistakes are part of the game. He will recover and he’s exceptional keeper."
City only managed one shot on target in the first half and appeared to badly miss the creative influence of the Kevin de Bruyne, who missed the game through injury.
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"We played good, we missed a little in the final third but the second half was better and it was a good performance," Guardiola continued.
"We play the same way, tried the press and defend well and we did well.
"Our game is there, we played really good in terms of coming here. They wait and did long balls on the counter-attack for Daniel James and Anthony Martial.
"We did our game but unfortunately we conceded a goal. They waited for our mistakes.
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BBC journalist Simon Stone said he didn't think Guardiola appreciate being if Manchester City had a problem with motivation.
"He blew his cheeks out, rubbed his head and said this: 'I am satisfied by the way we played,'" he said.
"'I can tell you don't think so by the tone of your question but it is not a lack of motivation or concentration. When I don't like it I will tell you.'"
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