Manchester City's Kyle Walker turns goalkeeper after Bravo red card

Kyle Walker ended the night in goal as Manchester City had a night of goalkeeper conundrums. City appeared to be heading for a comfortable night in Italy on Wednesday when Raheem Sterling put the side ahead after just seven minutes. Little did they know they'd soon be short of goalkeepers later on. First, City goalkeeper Ederson was withdrawn at the half-time break with an injury, then replacement goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was red-carded for hauling down Josip Ilicic and then Kyle Walker of all people stepped up for the Premier League champions in goal for the final few minutes. Now that's some drama! Also read | Liverpool Vs Manchester City: Sergio Aguero Considers United As Rivals Champions League: Manchester City vs Atalanta Manchester City could have confirmed their qualification to the next round of the Champions League with a win over Atalanta on Wednesday night and were on course to doing so when Sterling put them ahead early in the game. City appeared to be at their usual best controlling the tempo of the game well and forcing Atalanta to defend deep. But not everything goes according to plan and things soon started to go wrong when Gabriel Jesus missed the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot. Also read | Pep Guardiola Reveals His Delight At Taking Up Manchester City Job *Updates website* pic.twitter.com/tq4Dz9gQ2Q — Manchester City (@ManCity) November 6, 2019 Claudio Bravo replaced Ederson at the break and Atalanta were a completely different team in the second half, pressing City and showing some attacking intent. Within four minutes, they had produced a goal as Mario Pasalic headed in an equaliser. Bravo came on and had virtually nothing to do until the 81st minute when he rushed off his line to close down Josip Ilicic, only to bring down the attacker receiving his marching orders in the process. With no more goalkeepers on the bench, England full-back Kyle Walker had to don the gloves for the final few minutes and try to preserve a point for his team. He was called into action immediately, with Ruslan Malinovskiy taking the resulting free-kick which he did well to stop and gather it at the second attempt. Walker’s only other involvement of note was to collect an over-hit cross in the fourth minute of stoppage time, keeping a clean sheet in his one and only outing between the sticks. Manchester City: Guardiola explains Kyle Walker decision PEP 🗣 @kylewalker2 was suggested because of his courage and he’s quick. Congratulations to him for helping the team and going in this position. — Manchester City (@ManCity) November 6, 2019 Ironically, Kyle Walker actually ended up making more saves in the game than Bravo, who had been completely untested prior to his dismissal. Also read | Raheem Sterling: KFC Trolls Real Madrid, Manchester United Over Deals Also read | Liverpool Vs Manchester City: Title Contenders Grab Late Wins In PL

Advertisement

Manchester City's Kyle Walker turns goalkeeper after Bravo red card

Manchester City were left with no goalkeeper when Ederson was taken off and Bravo received a red card, forcing Kyle Walker to deputise between the sticks

Advertisement