David James has said that one Manchester City player did something unbelievable against Real Madrid last night.
During his playing career, the former goalkeeper made 863 club appearances in total for clubs such as City, Liverpool, West Ham United and Portsmouth among others, winning two trophies along the way.
Now though, after having such a long career, the 53-year-old has highlighted one thing he saw in yesterday’s Champions League quarter-final clash between City and Real that he says he would never have been able to do during his playing days.
James left stunned by one thing he saw in Man City vs Real Madrid
Speaking in a livestream shared on City’s official YouTube channel after last night’s game, James had this to say about Ederson, including the penalty he saved from Luka Modric in the shoot-out and the one he scored.
He said: “I think he side-footed it harder than I’ve ever laced it in my career. There was never a question that he was going to score, was there? He made the save as well early, it’s just that everything went the wrong way.”
After Kevin De Bruyne scored an equalising goal in the 76th minute to cancel out Rodrygo’s first-half strike, the Citizens were unable to find a winner in the 90 minutes and the following 30 minutes of extra time.
Ederson showed his quality
In the penalty shootout, Ederson saved the first penalty that was put at him by Modric, although was unable to save any of the four following spot kicks from Real.
As James mentioned, the 30-year-old took City’s fourth and final penalty of the night, calmly but assuredly firing the ball into Andriy Lunin’s bottom left corner with his side foot.
While the Brazil international has a reputation for being particularly impressive with the ball at his feet, it may have come as no surprise to many City supporters about how well Ederson dispatched his penalty.
In fact, he said back in 2020 that he is the best penalty taker at the club, which highlights the confidence and belief he has in his own abilities when it comes to taking spot kicks.
Moving forward, with the Blues having the possibility of enduring two potential penalty shoot-outs in the FA Cup semi-final and final this season, it’ll be interesting to see if Ederson finds himself in the lineup to take another penalty.