Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has said Liverpool is “probably not the best part of the UK” following his team’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield on Sunday.
Goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a deserved victory against Pep Guardiola’s side, with fifth-place City 11 points adrift of the league leaders in the table.
Liverpool fans took the opportunity to taunt Guardiola with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning,” to which the City boss responded by holding up six fingers — a reference to the number of Premier League titles he has won during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
Defending his manager when asked whether it would help motivate the City players to “prove people wrong,” Ortega told Talksport: “Probably. Someone told me before that this area is probably not the best part of the UK. Yeah, I think the manager reacted really well.”
Ortega was promoted to the starting lineup at Anfield, with sources telling ESPN that Guardiola had dropped Brazil international Éderson in an attempt to address his team’s poor form.
The defeat against Liverpool extended City’s winless streak to seven games and Guardiola’s side have lost four consecutive matches in the Premier League.
When quizzed on his reaction to the taunts from Liverpool fans, Guardiola said: “I’m so proud of my six Premier Leagues against that [Liverpool] team and the previous team [under Jürgen Klopp]. I didn’t expect Anfield to start chanting at 0-2 that I would be sacked.
“Maybe I deserved to be sacked with our results. Maybe I’m still in the job because I won six Premier Leagues and a lot of titles.
“They want to sack me. I wish they were more kind. Why didn’t they do it at 0-1? Why didn’t they do it last season when we won the Premier League?
“Why do they want to sack me now? I didn’t expect that from Anfield, for other clubs like Brighton I can understand it. But for Anfield I didn’t expect this, maybe it is the respect we have. They know we have won six Premier Leagues. But it’s fine, it’s part of the game.”
Information from Mark Ogden contributed to this report.