Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega hit back with a nasty dig at Liverpool City after manager Pep Guardiola was booed during their 2-0 defeat at Anfield on Sunday.
Goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah ensured the Reds took a nine-point lead in the Premier League title race, all but ending City’s chances of retaining the crown as their winless streak extended to seven games in all competitions the competitions
Reds supporters were obviously aware of the Cityzens’ recent poor run, targeting the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager as cries of “morning dismissal” rang out around the Merseyside stadium. Guardiola was then seen holding up six fingers to the crowd in reference to the amount Premier League titles he has won and he later admitted that he was surprised to hear the chant.
Ortega, who was introduced in the starting XI at Ederson’s expense in an attempt to stop City’s recent rot, then made an unnecessary comment about the city hosting Sunday’s game and backed up his manager’s response to the chants.
The goalkeeper said: “Someone said to me earlier that this area is probably not the best part of the UK. Yeah, I think the manager reacted really well.”
Guardiola had previously replied: “Every stadium wants to sack me, it started at Brighton. Maybe they’re right with the results we’ve had. I didn’t expect that at Anfield. They didn’t do it at 1-1. 0 but at 2-0 maybe they should have sung it in the past.
“I didn’t expect that from people Liverpoolbut that’s okay, it’s part of the game, and I completely understand. We’ve had incredible battles together. I have a respect for them.
“I’m sitting here as a manager and defending what we’ve done in the past thanks to (the City players) and more than ever I want to be with them and embrace them.”