Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has named the one reason why Arsenal are not the Premier League champions right now.
City went to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday night in a game that many people felt was the Premier League title decider.
Arsenal were hoping for a favour from their North London rivals, but a brace from Erling Haaland sealed the win for Guardiola’s side. They now have one hand on the title.
Pep Guardiola says Arsenal aren’t the Premier League champions because of Stefan Ortega
Tottenham have been a terrible place to go for Manchester City in recent years.
Pep Guardiola had never won a Premier League game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before last night, and the visitors didn’t start the game well.
Spurs were arguably the better side for large parts of the game on Tuesday night. They could’ve, and probably should’ve, scored a couple of goals as well.
Dejan Kulusevski had a good opportunity to find the back of the net, but the biggest chance of the game fell to Tottenham captain Heung-min Son.
The South Korean found himself through on goal after a mistake at the back from Manchester City. Everyone in the stadium stood up, expecting the net to bulge.
Sadly for Arsenal fans, Son’s shot was denied brilliantly by Stefan Ortega, who replaced Ederson in goal in the second half.
That was the moment for Arsenal – even Guardiola felt that way.
The Manchester City boss claimed after the game that if Ortega hadn’t saved Son’s shot, Arsenal would’ve been the champions.
He said in his post-match press conference, as relayed on Beanyman Sports: “I would say, how is the team a team? It’s because Ortega saved the actions, otherwise Arsenal are the champions.
“That is the reality in modern football. The margins are so, so, so tight.”
Guardiola says Ortega is one of the best keepers he has ever seen
Manchester City signed Stefan Ortega on a free transfer from Arminia Bielefeld in the summer of 2022.
The 31-year-old was brought in only to be a backup to Ederson in goal, and he accepted that role. He was never going to be the first choice at the club.
However, Ederson’s injury issues have given Ortega plenty of opportunities at City, and he has almost always proved his class.
The £55,000-a-week (Spotrac) German was the star of the show against Tottenham. He made a few brilliant stops, and his save to deny Heung-min Son is the reason why the title is not in Arsenal’s hands right now.
Speaking about Ortega’s ability in one-on-one situations, Guardiola claimed he is one of the best goalkeepers he has ever seen.
He said: “Stefan made an incredible save. He has this talent. In one-against-one, he is one of the best keepers I’ve ever seen in my life.
“It’s a German culture, stand up, don’t go down, he’s so really, really, really good. But not today, since he arrived – playing in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup or even this season when Ederson had four times setbacks due to injuries, always he’s so reliable.
“He’s an incredible, incredible keeper. So the club and our keeper trainer made an incredible decision to bring him here, Incredible!”