"No Player is Undroppable" - Enzo Maresca Clarifies Geronimo Rulli Snub in Fresh Gianluigi Donnarumma Comments

"No Player is Undroppable" - Enzo Maresca Clarifies Geronimo Rulli Snub in Fresh Gianluigi Donnarumma Comments Gianluigi Donnarumma has received Enzo Maresca's backing amid a difficult run of form. Maresca and his heavily-changed side scraped past Brighton and Hove Albion on penalties in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, with the Blues coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 before edging the shootout 4-3 at the Etihad Stadium. Donnarumma sat that one out after struggling for form of late, with the Italy captain partly to blame for both goals in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa and criticised for the 4-2 home loss to former club Paris Saint-Germain a fortnight ago. Geronimo Rulli emerged as the hero in his place, saving two spot-kicks in the shootout, although the Argentine shot-stopper was told after the game that he will not be challenging Donnarumma for the number one spot. Asked about Donnarumma's recent errors in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Maresca said: "Any player, at the end, makes mistakes. The important thing is to move on, to understand the reason why, to learn from that mistake, and just move on. "In this moment, we are talking about Gigio, but just remember in the last minutes against Manchester United away, the save" That save came in the final minute of stoppage time at Old Trafford on 13 September, when the Italian tipped away a close-range effort from Bryan Mbeumo to seal a 1-0 derby win over Manchester United after Phil Foden had been sent off. Maresca added: "All players make mistakes at some points of the season, sometimes it costs points, sometimes not because we are lucky. But I think it's a normal process for Gigio." Maresca had already defended the goalkeeper's dip in form earlier in the week, after the Italy captain misjudged Nicolas Jackson's second effort at Villa Park and allowed the ball to roll beneath him for the winning goal. Marc Guehi had also made an unfortunate mistake for Villa's opener inside the first six minutes, with Maresca offering a message of support to the defender and withdrawing him at half-time. The defeat in Birmingham ended Manchester City's run of seven straight Premier League wins to start the season, and it allowed Arsenal to draw level on points with the Blues at the top of the table. Paris Saint-Germain had done the damage inside 32 minutes at the Etihad Stadium on 14 October, with Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha all finding the net before Erling Haaland and Maghnes Akliouch traded goals after the break. Asked whether any other Manchester City players are undroppable in the same way as Donnarumma, Maresca added: "I think one thing is to say it is, in this moment, Gigio plus 10 [others]. And another thing to say 'undroppable'. They're two different things. There's no player that is 'undroppable'. "But there are players that are, in this moment, Gigio plus 10. It's because I think in this way. In this moment, it's Gigio plus 10. In this moment, I see it like this." Donnarumma was one of five players handed three days off to recharge after the Villa defeat, alongside Haaland, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Elliot Anderson, which opened the door for Rulli to start in net against the Seagulls. The 35-year-old was called upon as Malick Yalcouye and Georginio Rutter put the visitors ahead on either side of half-time, with Mateo Kovacic and Vitor Reis on target to spare Manchester City 's blushes before the Argentine denied Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk from the spot. Foden, Enzo Fernandez, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all netted in the shootout after Kovacic's opening penalty was saved, sending the Carabao Cup holders through to a meeting with Bradford City in December. Rulli arrived from Marseille in August on a two-year contract after James Trafford joined Leeds United in a £40 million deal, and the Argentina international is the only senior goalkeeper giving Donnarumma a run for his money this season.