If there is one thing in football that all supporters can agree is pure box office and absolutely hilarious, it's goalkeepers taking penalties. Well, as long as your goalkeeper doesn't miss.
Unfortunately for supporters of Chelsea, that is exactly how Sunday's Carabao Cup final came to a close. After a thrilling, end-to-end contest against Liverpool ended goalless, the latter triumphed 11-10 on penalties, with second-string goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga ballooning the crucial kick over the crossbar.
The situation would have been bad enough for the Spaniard - who famously refused to be substituted in the 2019 final that Manchester City won on spot-kicks - had he not been brought on minutes before the shoot-out, only to concede every penalty he faced and miss his own.
That got us thinking: if City end up in a high stakes penalty shoot-out this season - let's say in the Champions League final - at what point would Ederson get involved?
Goalkeepers tend to only step up when literally every other player has taken a penalty, as Kepa and Caoimhin Kelleher showed at Wembley. After both sides converted 10 apiece, Liverpool's Irish stopper coolly sent Kepa the wrong way before the Chelsea man blasted into orbit.
A similar scenario happened in last season's Europa League final. Manchester United fell to Villarreal 11-10 on penalties after David de Gea failed to score the 22nd kick of the shoot-out.
If City find themselves in this situation, one thing is for certain. Ederson would not shy away from the responsibility of a spot-kick.
Ederson is not renowned for his penalty saving ability - the Brazilian has saved four of the 26 he has faced for the club (during normal time), a save rate of roughly 15%.
However, while he has never taken a penalty in his career, at City it's common knowledge that he's pretty good at them. Perhaps owing to his extraordinary ability on the ball, nerves of steel and the fact that throughout his career he has always practised them.
Amid the Blues' travails from 12 yards last season, Ederson stated his willingness to step up if needed.
"I am [on the list to take a penalty]. I don’t need to train that much, but the fifth one, I’m taking it," he boldly said ahead of City's maiden Champions League final last May. "The last one, the decisive, I’ll ask for it."
This wasn't just big talk either; a video emerged online of Ederson practising penalties at Porto's Estadio do Dragao on the eve of the final. He scored 10 of the 11 he took against reserve City keeper Scott Carson, varying his technique and style with each.
Many different factors determine when a player will take his spot-kick of course, such as who is on the pitch and what the score is, but Ederson's preference to take the fifth penalty seems a solid choice. Reliable takers - such as Cristiano Ronaldo - often take the fifth penalty as it can prove the difference between victory and defeat, although that plan can backfire if the shoot-out doesn't get that far.
City don't have many confident penalty takers, but Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling would all likely step up.
The circumstances of the moment would likely dictate how Ederson would dispatch his kick, but it's hard to imagine him doing anything other than smashing his effort high into the corner of the goal. His chaotic and cheeky personality suits risky passes to his defenders, but pulling off a Panenka in a shoot-out might be a step too far.
"I hope someday it happens and you will see," Ederson said earlier this season when CityTV asked him about his thoughts on taking a penalty.
The sight of a goalkeeper standing on the wrong side of the penalty spot strikes fear into most fans but at City the opposite would be true. We'd all be buzzing to see Ederson spotting the ball with everything on the line. You wouldn't bet against him, would you?
Would you like to see Ederson take a penalty for City? Do you think he would score? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
