Manchester City beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 last night in the Champions League – and Craig Burley has insisted that Pep Guardiola will not care about Ederson’s poor pass that led to a goal for the Danish side.
City have one foot in the quarter-final, after a fantastic display at Parken that saw Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden all score.
It was a superb performance with City in complete control throughout – thanks largely to Rodri and John Stones, whom Paul Dickov branded ‘outstanding’.
The three goalscorers were all brilliant and there was only really one blemish.
In the first-half, Ederson looked to play a pass out to Nathan Ake, but he made a hash of it. The ball eventually deflected off Ruben Dias and landed at the feet of Magnus Mattsson, who produced a lovely finish to his credit.
Despite the mistake from Ederson, Burley is sure Pep would not have been annoyed…
Craig Burnley says ‘the ship has sailed’ for teams to play long balls, as Manchester City star Ederson makes error v Copenhagen
City were absolutely dominating when Ederson made that poor pass and so, it was a little frustrating.
Thankfully though, City did not panic as they never do, and were able to finish the game with a two-goal cushion.
Some may feel Guardiola won’t have been happy with his £35 million goalkeeper, who is normally so reliable with his distribution, but Burley believes the Spaniard would not have minded too much.
He said on ESPN FC: “Have you noticed how all these teams play these days? There’s no point us sitting here and saying ‘kick it long’. That ship has sailed, sunk! Champions League final, five minutes to go, there’s a different scenario. He probably would lump it up the field.
“The game has changed, whether we agree with these little instances or not.
“I bet his manager is not in the dressing room saying ‘I told you to kick it’. He’ll be saying ‘just be better, take more care’. Would that sympathy come along in a much bigger game if they were playing Real Madrid or whatever, maybe not. We just have to accept mistakes are going to happen.”
High risk, high reward is the City way
There is no chance Guardiola will have scolded Ederson for his mistake last night.
It was uncharacteristic from the Brazilian, who is in the top three for his position in the world in the eyes of Petr Cech. Usually, he does execute passes even when it looks like they aren’t even on.
He perhaps, on this occasion, just didn’t quite take enough time to assess the danger properly.
But Ederson playing out in the way he does has been an absolute staple of the way City have played since his arrival at the Etihad.
It is not, nor has it ever been, the Pep Guardiola way to start going long ball, even when the press from the opposition is high and constant.
It is his ethos to draw in the opposition and play with courage at the back, to open up the space and then move the ball up the pitch. It’s high risk, high reward, and a tactic he wholeheartedly believes in.
