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The Sky Blues’ No. 1 in between the sticks Ederson has sustained a fractured eye socket and will not feature in their final attempts to lift the domestic Double over the following days.
The bold keeper suffered the injury after clashing with Spurs’ defender Cristian Romero during Tuesday’s crucial 2-0 victory in north London, with the win enabling City to take that one big step closer to clinching a fourth consecutive Premier League title by beating West Ham at the weekend.
Medical staff had made a beeline to Ederson’s aid after he lay stricken following a heavy head collision with Romero although he managed to stay conscious and communicative after that. After having confirmed to them that he had not blacked out at any point and wanted to continue, the Brazilian was furious reaction when he was eventually substituted upon advice given by City’s doctor, Max Sala, who noted to Guardiola that the eye could swell quickly and the manager subsequently replaced him with Stefan Ortega. Sources described Ederson’s eye as ‘looking like a mess’ in the dressing room and tests have since revealed a small fracture.
Suffice it to say that Ortega – whose stunning late save to deny Heung-min Son may become the defining image of the title race – has been in scintillating form when called upon in 18 matches this season.
The German – naturally nursing aspirations of taking over as first choice goalie – only has one year left on his contract with his future remaining uncertain going into the summer as City have so far failed to successfully negotiate a new deal with the 31-year-old, who would have started the all-Manchester FA Cup final at Wembley irrespective of Ederson’s fitness.