Claudio Bravo: 'Sadio Mane could have avoided Ederson contact'

Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has suggested that Sadio Mane deliberately collided with Ederson during Liverpool's heavy defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

The big talking point in the Citizens' eventual 5-0 victory arrived 37 minutes in when, with the hosts one goal ahead, the Senegalese caught his opponent in the face with a high boot.

Mane has since apologised on social media for the incident, which led to a game-changing red card, but Ederson has questioned whether the Liverpool forward could have done more to avoid making contact.

"These things are avoidable. You can easily avoid putting your foot in somebody's face so you don't do them damage," he told reporters. "At first I thought that he had hit him in the hip, but then I saw clearly that he got him with the face.

"You go from being on the bench watching the game and within seconds you're out there playing. Us goalkeepers know this can happen, but you never expect it. I wouldn't have wanted to play for a reason like this, an injury to a team-mate, but you always have to be prepared."

Bravo, now out of favour under boss Pep Guardiola, stepped in for Ederson to mark his first appearance of the 2017-18 campaign.