The Brazilian goalkeeper was the last player to touch the ball before the final whistle of our Treble-winning campaign, tipping away an Inter corner, moments before collapsing to his knees to celebrate the Champions League success.
His final save of the 2023/24 campaign was less enjoyable, caught in the face by Tottenham defender Cristian Romero after bravely coming to pounce on a low cross.
It left him with a fractured eye socket and brought an early end to his season with Ederson ruled out of our final Premier League match against West Ham.
The frustration was clear as he was forced off the pitch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with City defending a one-goal lead in a must-win game at a venue where we hadn’t won in the league.
A dugout seat took the brunt of that anger which was amplified by the fact it was incredibly the fourth time during the campaign that injury had struck during the match.
It denied Ederson the chance to be in goal for our record-breaking fourth title in a row and his sixth in seven seasons although he was able to join in the celebrations after our last day victory over the Hammers confirmed City’s historic success.
While it was a tough blow to miss the final 90 minutes, it can’t take away from yet another huge contribution over the previous nine months to get us to the winning moment.
Wonderful saves, intelligence and brilliant passing, Ederson was yet again our ever-reliable last line of defence.
And it was officially confirmed in January what City fans have believed for a long time, that he is the best goalkeeper in the world.
The 30-year-old was named FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year shortly after we became the first English club to secure the ‘Big Five’ by adding the European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to our three trophies from the previous season.
In the opening weeks of the season, Ederson made critical saves in narrow wins over Newcastle and Sheffield United as well as our Super Cup win over Sevilla on penalties.
Away to West Ham in September, he made a string of important interventions including an outstanding full-length dive to fingertip away Kurt Zouma’s header for one of the saves of the season.
A number of reflex saves at home to Liverpool in November, including an instinctive reaction to Darwin Nunez’s header, secured a vital point before the Premier League campaign was halted midway through the season for the Club World Cup.
Ederson remained unbeaten against Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds and in the final against Copa Libertadores Fluminense from his native Brazil, who were beaten 4-0.
Immediately, on our return we faced a crucial trip to Everton and trailing 1-0, he made a crucial reaction save from Jack Harrison, tipping it over the bar before we turned the game around in the second half with a 3-1 victory.
Another big away test at Newcastle ended with City picking up a big three points it was to be the start of an annoying run of injuries for our goalkeeper.
In the opening minutes, he was injured trying to keep out an Anthony Gordon shot that was ruled out for a clear offside.
It was a frustration that the flag was not raised, particularly as Ederson had to limp out of the action shortly after, although an international break meant he missed no more games.
But a setback in the draw with Liverpool saw him miss three Premier League matches and the first leg of our Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
He was back for the second leg, scoring from the spot and saving Luka Modric’s penalty, but unfortunately it was still a heartbreaking exit.
With six must-win league remaining, Ederson was beaten just once, in the 5-1 win over Wolves, until that collision at Spurs cut short his season.
But his heroics throughout the campaign helped make it yet another remarkable season.
2023/24 Stats
Matches: 43
Starts: 43
Minutes: 3,718
Clean sheets: 16
In his own words
“Every season, I’ve given my everything, I’ve trained a lot and give everything for my club.
“[We have] the mentality to stay strong. The body is tired, but the mind is so strong, this is the difference for this Club.”
Pep on Ederson
“We cannot define this period without Eddie, it is impossible.
“It’s been a strange season for him - four setbacks, four times injured - a keeper four times, with incredible knocks, I’ve never seen that.”
