'Could've killed him': Keeper's shock reaction after hospitalising teammate
Manchester City goal keeper Ederson has come under fire for appearing to smile while his teammate lay motionless on the floor after accidentally colliding with him and knocking him unconscious.
The Premier League return excited fans around the world on Wednesday as Manchester City clashed with Arsenal on Wednesday.
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But 19-year-old Spanish star Eric Garcia was forced off the pitch late on after being taken out by his own teammate.
With City 2-0 up heading into the last ten minutes of their first game back following the coronavirus-enforced break in the season, Ederson came flying out of his goal to deal with a through ball.
The Brazilian shot-stopper collided violently with Garcia in the process, leaving the 19-year-old flattened on the ground and unable to continue.
But as he lay their motionless, fans on social media became infuriated at images of Ederson sharing a smile with a teammate following the scary scenes.
Eric Garcia went motionless in a quick second, and let #Ederson explain what's so funny about it pic.twitter.com/5TWL2eiKUS
— Saurav Verma (@100raV_Verma) June 17, 2020
That looked bad on Garcia. Yet Ederson was laughing and Pep didn't even give a glance? Wtf is wrong with you people pic.twitter.com/YX4GKMUcSh
— 🤺 (@seni_bergelud) June 17, 2020
I’m sorry but Ederson has to be more careful than that, especially with his own players. He could’ve killed poor Eric Garcia. Call your man off or jump around him. pic.twitter.com/U3y1OHBgaQ
— Sean Kent (@seankent) June 17, 2020
Anyone else noticed ederson had a little smirk on his face after his collision with García?
— Abhimeyang™ (@abhim3yang) June 18, 2020
obviously ederson didn’t mean it but the fact he was joking with sterling after, feel he should be a bit more concerned. Get well soon eric garcia ❤️
— Zac (@zacperry26) June 17, 2020
Eric Garcia faced a terrible knock with Ederson leaving him unconscious on the field. I hope he's okay, wish him speedy recovery.#ManCityARSENAL #PremierLeagueIsBack pic.twitter.com/aM44Iv4smf
— Nirbhay Rawal (@nirbhay_rawal) June 17, 2020
Ederson and Garcia
Worst collision I have seen in football
Man City V Arsenal pic.twitter.com/5kuGzBiM2v— Matti (@Matti92t) June 17, 2020
Ederson was seen checking on Garcia’s wellbeing following the incident and sent a message to his teammate on Instagram.
‘Gargia, after a big scare, I hope to see you tomorrow to apologise. Stay well in safety,” he wrote on Instagram.
Garcia was taken to a local hospital but was reported to be conscious.
Man City sweep aside Arsenal
Manchester City defeated Arsenal 3-0 on Wednesday as the Premier League returned to action after 100 days away because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Raheem Sterling put City in front, Kevin de Bruyne scored the second with a penalty and Phil Foden added a third in injury-time.
David Luiz, who was at fault for the first goal, was sent off for conceding the penalty.
City's win reduced the gap between themselves and runaway leaders Liverpool to 22 points, meaning Juergen Klopp's side need two wins to secure their first title since 1990.
Arsenal's night began badly with injuries to Grant Xhaka and Pablo Mari and got worse when Luiz, who replaced Mari, miscontrolled a De Bruyne cross, allowing Sterling to smash in the opening goal on the stroke of half-time.
And Luiz then compounded matters early in the second half when he pulled back Riyad Mahrez to concede a penalty and collect a red card.
De Bruyne sent Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno the wrong way to double City's lead and Foden added the third late on after Sergio Aguero's shot was turned onto the post by Leno.
City and Arsenal had begun the match in the same way as Villa and Sheffield United, with all players, management and officials 'taking a knee' in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement.
All the players had Black Lives Matter on the back of their shirts.
With AAP and Goal.com