Gary Neville lauded one Manchester City star who doesn’t get to play all that much, after the huge win over Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
Manchester City went top of the Premier League by two points after beating Spurs 2-0.
It was finally time for the game in hand, and City managed to edge the contest thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland.
Kevin De Bruyne squared the ball brilliantly for the number nine, before Haaland then made sure of the points from the penalty spot in injury-time.
City may not have won last night had it not been for Stefan Ortega, who came on to replace the injured Ederson – and after the game, Gary Neville raved about the German stopper…
Gary Neville suggests ‘outstanding’ Stefan Ortega is the best number two around
Last night’s game was strange at times. The atmosphere was very odd, with some Spurs fans kind of hoping to see City win to help stop Arsenal winning the league.
City were sloppy at times, and it was probably one of the worst performances for the season.
But all that was ever going to matter was the result.
There was a huge moment late on in the second-half when Ortega denied Heung-min Son, who had raced through after Manuel Akanji lost the ball.
It was a save that Jamie Carragher believes has now won Manchester City the Premier League title, and Neville was full of praise for the City number two after the game.
He said on the Gary Neville podcast: “I nearly said at one point in the second-half when he came on, ‘Is he the best number two in the league?’ but I thought that would be disrespectful to Aaron Ramsdale who also is a very good number two to Raya.
“But he’s an outstanding number two. He came on in challenging circumstances. Ederson with the concussion. It was an unbelievable moment when Son went through it really was and look, wow, well done to City.”
Ortega is amazing
It was amazing to see Ortega enjoy such an impactful performance for City against Tottenham.
It cannot have been easy for him to come on in that game, much like when he came on against Liverpool back in March.
But the £55,000-a-week star took up his position and was practically faultless, and the save he made from Son will now become one of the most famous in the history of the competition. He also made a very good save from Dejan Kulusevski earlier in the game.
Ortega, being the number two, doesn’t get to play all that much.
But what an amazing goalkeeper he is and City fans everywhere would be pained if he ended up leaving the club this summer. The club have long wanted to extend his contract at the Etihad Stadium, but there has been a lack of movement on it, leading to speculation he could be off.
