Pep Guardiola paid tribute to Manchester City’s back-up goalkeeper Stefan Ortega after a 2-0 win at Tottenham and claimed his “incredible save” could be the difference in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola insisted before the match that City’s prospects of a fourth consecutive league championship would be over if they failed to win at Spurs.
After a disjointed first-half display they managed to improve and went ahead after 51 minutes when Kevin De Bruyne got in behind the Tottenham defence to tee up Erling Haaland for a tap-in.
It was far from straightforward for City afterwards, though, with keeper Ederson forced off with 69 minutes played after he collided with Cristian Romero, but his replacement Ortega stepped up to deny Son Heung-min when he was sent through one-on-one in the 86th minute.
Six minutes later Haaland tucked away a spot-kick for his 38th goal this term, after Jeremy Doku had been brought down, to send City two points clear of Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s final day.
“How is a team a team? Because of Ortega’s save. Otherwise Arsenal are champions,” Guardiola admitted.
“That is the reality, the margins are so, so tight.
“Do you know how many times Son punished us in the last seven, eight years? Can I tell you how many goals he scored against us with Harry Kane?
How significant could that save from Stefan Ortega be!?
Son Heung-min breaks through one-on-one, but the ''keeper''s outstretched leg prevents a goal!#TOTMCI
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 14, 2024
“Oh my God, and I said ‘not again,’ but Stefan makes an incredible save. It was amazing but he has this talent.
“In the one against one, he is one of the best keepers I have ever seen in my life. Stand up, don’t go down and he is so, so, good.
“Playing FA Cup, Carabao Cup, even this season Ederson had four times setbacks for injuries and always he was so reliable.
“He is an incredible keeper so the club and our trainer made an incredible decision to bring him here.”
A chunk of the pre-match talk centred on whether the home crowd would get behind their team, given rivals Arsenal’s position in the title race.
But Guardiola added: “All the game they (Tottenham) were incredibly aggressive, so I suffered from minute one.
“The people suspect, ‘no, I’m not going to win, we don’t want to give the title to Arsenal,’ it was completely the opposite.”
Guardiola quickly turned his focus to Sunday’s visit of West Ham, where a victory will ensure his team clinch an unprecedented fourth Premier League crown in a row.
“Now? I am tired,” he reflected.
“Relax and tomorrow start to think about West Ham. It is a pleasure to depend on (ourselves) for the last game against a contender like Arsenal.
“Now, (Mohammed) Kudus, (Jarrod) Bowen, (Michail) Antonio, (James) Ward-Prowse, (Tomas) Soucek, set-pieces, channels. And think about that, focus perfectly and think about it like we live with Aston Villa (last season).
“The last (defeat) was sixth of December. We are here and we have to win one more game to retain the title.”
Ederson was forced off due to a swollen eye, which provoked a furious reaction by the Brazilian goalkeeper on the touchline.
“I understand he wants to play, I understand,” Guardiola admitted.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou cut a frustrated figure after their faint hopes of a top-four finish were ended.
“Disappointed to lose. I thought it was a tight game. Big moments for both teams, which they capitalised on and we didn’t,” Postecoglou said.
“Ultimately if you want to win those games you’ve got to take the big moments. You’ve got to be disciplined and it’s fair to say it’s one of the areas we have let ourselves down in all year.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
