“He can solve some of our problems” – Ederson and Foden lauded as Man City beat Newcastle
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson reached an impressive milestone in his side’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
The fleet-footed Brazilian, who made his 208th league appearance for City, registered a 100th clean sheet with only Petr Cech (180) and Pepe Reina (198) doing so in fewer Premier League games.
“Ederson is one of the reasons why we have won lots of titles because we had a lot of clean sheets and saves,” City head coach Pep Guardiola noted post-match. “Ederson was exceptional in many, many things. This is the reason why. You cannot win titles just scoring goals, you have to defend.”
Having conceded in each of his last five outings before today’s showdown, the 29-year-old was ultimately forced into making two saves, but as expected excelled when it came to starting City’s attack. In fact, Ederson completed one more pass than Phil Foden, who put the hosts in front.
Foden’s goal was his ninth of the season. In doing so, he became the youngest player to reach 50 Premier League goal involvements (33 goals and 17 assists) for City, beating Gabriel Jesus by 10 days. “Phil Foden is in good form,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said afterwards. “We were disappointed with the first goal although you have to say he took it very well.”
Howe’s words echoed Bernardo Silva’s sentiments. “Phil Foden is so good, he is one of those players who can score goals and win games for you,” he told BT Sport. “I am happy for him, he went through a difficult period with his injury so I am very happy to have him with us because he showed he can solve some of our problems.”
Pep Guardiola once described Foden as the most gifted player he’s coached, but the England international wasn’t involved as City doubled their lead, Silva coming straight off the bench to register the club’s 1000th home goal in the Premier League era. Blink and you would have missed it. Silva needed 2 minutes and 10 seconds, which turned out to be the fastest goal by a sub for City in the Premier League since SIlva himself, against Brighton in August 2019 (17 seconds).
