Manchester City vs Crystal Palace: Why Ederson wasn’t sent off despite last man challenge

Manchester City dropped points yet again after Crystal Palace rallied from two goals down to grab a point at the Etihad on December 16.

Pep Guardiola's side thought they had bagged maximum points with a goal apiece from Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis, putting them two to the good inside 54 minutes.

However, Roy Hodgson's charges clawed their way back into the game, with Jean-Philippe Mateta pulling one back in the 76th minute to set up a grand finish. Mateta then turned provider when he went down in the area from a foul from Phil Foden, earning his side a penalty deep into stoppage time.

Michael Olise made no mistake from the spot as the defending champions blew their chance to move into second place momentarily.

The game was marked by a controversial spectacle in the first half when Ederson came out rushing from his area and clipped Mateta. The Frenchman came tumbling down, with referee Paul Tierney, awarding a foul.

Why was Ederson not sent off vs Crystal Palace?

The official, however, gave a yellow card, rather than a direct sending-off, much to the confusion of the travelling fans. The general consensus was that the Brazilian had committed a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO) offence and was liable for a red card.

"Denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick," as captured in the Laws of the Game and FA's rules section 12

Why was Ederson's case different then? Sports Brief admits the yellow card decision was controversial but attempts to break down what might have been the referee's thought process.

The 30-year-old might have found a loophole in the 'movement towards offender's goal' in the aforementioned clause. Did Mateta's touch take him momentarily away from the empty goal Ederson had left? It is under the referee's discretion to determine whether it was a DOGSO.
Secondly, the same clause indicates that the number and location of defenders around should be considered when determining a DOGSO offence. Ruben Dias was the closest defender around the incident and was presumably on his way to provide cover as Ederson came rushing out.

Serious foul play offence

Another issue they possibly looked at is whether Ederson committed a 'serious foul play' offence.

According to the handbook, this is defined as, "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play. Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."

Atwell was satisfied with the replays that Ederson was genuinely attempting to play the ball, which is just a caution.

Fans on social media thought that Ederson was extremely lucky to remain on the pitch. Should PGMOL choose to release the VAR audio of the incident, it could be an interesting watch in a season that has already been marked by a lot of controversial calls.