If there is one thing that supporters of Manchester City have learned during Pep Guardiola's time at the club, it is to expect the unexpected.
Full-backs playing in the centre of the pitch, Guardiola's propensity to overthink things... such things would cause nervous breakdowns among other fanbases, but at City it's the status quo.
That being said, there are still certain things that require the cleaning of even the most blue-tinted of spectacles.
Ederson taking up a position on the pitch more akin to a right-sided centre-back than a goalkeeper is one of them.
Everybody knows that Ederson is not your traditional kind of goalkeeper. He is the Premier League's chief proponent of the outfield number one, a more radical Manuel Neuer who not only sweeps up danger but starts attacks with an incredible range and quality of passing.
City fans are used to seeing the Brazilian keeper wander out of his penalty area to exchange passes with his defenders and clip pin-point balls out to the wings.
Even so, his positioning during the first half of the New Year's Day win against Arsenal was more advanced and daring than we have ever seen before. There was a logical reason for it.
This season Guardiola has opened up about his side's build-up play from the back more than in his previous five years in Manchester.
Back in August he labelled Aymeric Laporte "the best left-sided centre-back for build-up play in the world," such is the ease at which the Spain international breaks lines of opposition pressure with passes that set City's midfielders and attackers on their way.
If Guardiola's side are to dominate ball possession as a means to suffocate the opposition, score goals and win football matches, then among the non-negotiable requirements of his players is the ability to keep the ball while moving from one end of the pitch to the other.
The unique style of City's play this season is the product of a number of key principles combining. These include ball possession and positional play, the latter being the ability of players to fluidly interchange positions on the field so to create numerical advantages as and when they are needed.
City's style depends on the creation of numerical advantages. It is hard to keep the ball if three opponents converge on the ball carrier and options either side of him. If there is a fourth man, then the opposition are outnumbered, and will struggle to win the ball back.
In 95% of games City do this very well, but it is not a fool-proof approach. Arsenal's tactics on New Year's Day worked to a t (for an hour at least) as their high pressing cut off City's passing options and disrupted their rhythm.
That's where Ederson came in. In order to try and escape the Arsenal press and the cutting off of crucial passing lanes, Ederson came so far out of his goal that he effectively became an 11th outfield player, or an extra defender.
Arsenal's press was often led by three players - Martin Odegaard, Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka - with Gabriel Martinelli occasionally joining to form a front four.
Given that Guardiola likes Joao Cancelo to push into the centre of the pitch to support Rodri when City are in possession, that left City with three defenders being pressured by three attackers.
To combat this, Ederson became a centre-back, allowing Nathan Ake to push left and Ruben Dias to push right, creating more space and options for City to pass unobstructed.
This rendered Arsenal's press less effective, although Martinelli in particular was still able to cause havoc down the City's right flank through counter-attacks.
Of course, Ederson's advanced position was not a magic antidote that fixed City's problems and eased them to victory. As Guardiola admitted after the match, Arsenal were the better side and arguably should have won, if not then at least drawn.
Every once in a while City will have these kind of games, when a well-organised and tactically superb outfit takes on a fatigued and covid-affected squad.
But there's no doubting that Ederson's forays forward helped to alleviate some of the pressure Guardiola's side felt. The keeper is a high risk high reward player, as we saw with the controversy surrounding his first-half challenge on Odegaard.
But the reward is worth it, even on the days when City don't play particularly well.
What did you think when you saw Ederson so far up the pitch? 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.
