Manchester City’s second keeper Stefan Ortega has been hailed as their saviour following his heroics in this week’s penultimate Premier League fixture, with a singular moment that could have very well decided this season’s title race.
Ortega has been relied upon multiple times this season, both in cup competitions and several league fixtures when Ederson has been ruled out – which is exactly what happened following a concerning head injury with around 20 minutes of normal time to go – but never has he stepped up quite like this.
With the Brazilian shot-stopper being forced off for his own good (a decision that left him in tears on the bench), the backup keeper had to play what could prove to be the most important half-hour of football for City this season, with the Blues have never won or even scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It wasn’t long before he was called into action either, as Spurs star and regular scorer whenever the two sides meet, Son, found himself through on goal only for Ortega to produce what will likely go down as the most as the most important save of the season:
Pep was every single City fan watching that Son vs Ortega one-on-one.
Say what you will about the South Korean’s composure at the moment but that is nothing short of a sensational stop given the circumstances.
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Manager Pep Guardiola said as much too, insisting to media after the game that “in the one-against-one, he’s one of the best goalkeepers I have ever seen in my life”, adding, “It’s the German culture; stand up, don’t go down. It’s so really, really good… He’s so reliable.”
Pep didn’t mince his words when it came to describing how important that moment was either, stating simply: “Stefan Ortega has saved us. Otherwise, Arsenal are Premier League champions”.
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He also lauded City’s keeper trainer, Xabier Mancisidor – who received a yellow card on the night for his protests over the sickening collision that saw Ederson hooked off despite trying to play on – crediting him with the excellent decision in bringing their number 18 to the club.
"They were playing for the consequences of the result" 🗣
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 14, 2024
Ortega could very well go down as the Aguero of the 2023/24 season with that singular moment, with Liverpool legend turned pundit Jamie Carragher going so far on the night as to declare the goalkeeper as having “won Manchester City the title”.
While he might have called a touch early given that the Blues and Arsenal have one massive game each to play just yet, both against sides that have struggled this season too, that save from Ortega could prove to be as important as the Gerrard slip or any other tide-turning moment in a title race.
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Guardiola has admitted that Ederson’s injury doesn’t look good, admitting that “he can’t see properly” after being left with a visible black eye following the clash, meaning that he is unlikely to play their last game this Sunday.
Nevertheless, as Ortega proved on the night, he isn’t just capable of filling in for the first-team starter when needed – we can’t think of many rotation keepers who have made themselves more worthy of seeing out a season than the 31-year-old did on Tuesday night.
With just West Ham and Everton left to play for the top two, respectively, who knows what could happen on the final day of the season this weekend?
Things could still very come down to goal difference even, but Stefan Ortega did more than his part to make sure that the champions go into the home stretch in control and with Arsenal needing a miracle to stand a chance of beating them to the title.
You can watch the highlights from City’s crucial away win against Spurs, including that incredible save, down below:
Manchester’s National Football Museum to screen England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer
Emily Sergeant
England’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 matches are to be shown on big screens for free in Manchester this summer.
As England women’s national football team look to retain their title and continue to build on their ever-growing success as one of the best national football teams in the world, Manchester‘s National Football Museum is set to host a series of family-friendly watch parties after hours for the UEFA Women’s Euros this summer.
Visitors of all ages are welcome to support and celebrate England as they kick-off their campaign against France in the group stages on 5 July, followed by matches against the Netherlands on 9 July, and Wales on 13 July.
As Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses head to Switzerland with the hopes of being crowned European champions, you can head to the National Football Museum for some safe and inclusive fun.
Not only will the matches be shown in all their glory for free on a big screen, but you can also expect an on-site bar, and even the option to pre-order pizza ahead of time to feast on while you’re watching the action.
Watch parties will be taking place at the National Football Museum on the following dates:
France v England – 5 July at 8pm
England v Netherlands – 9 July at 5pm
England v Wales – 13 July at 8pm
To mark the beginning of the tournament, the museum will also be hosting a vibrant weekend of events on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July, so get ready to strike a pose in Lionesses’ kits, create your own dazzling banner, and drum-up support with your very own chant.
Manchester’s National Football Museum is screening England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“This promises to be an exciting summer for football,” said Tim Desmond, who is the CEO of the National Football Museum.
“We want to bring the powerful sense of community that tournament football delivers to our museum, helping both new and returning visitors understand why football matters, and witness the impact our pioneering Lionesses can have in inspiring generations of budding young footballers.
“That’s why we are so delighted to be able to offer watch parties for this year’s tournament, providing a safe, inclusive, and exciting place for all fans to cheer on England.”
Featured Image – Molly Darlington / The FA (via England on Facebook)
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Manchester City confirm fourth signing of the summer as spending spree continues
Danny Jones
Manchester City have officially revealed their fourth signing of the summer window after confirming the transfer of top target Tijjani Reijnders.
The highly sought-after Serie A midfielder joins the club from AC Milan on a five-year contract for an initial fee of approximately £46.5 million, after having been tracked by a number of clubs across Europe over the past season or so.
Reijnders, 26, registered 15 goals and five assists from central midfielder last season (more than any other player in the league) with Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki stating that he models his game on Kevin De Bruyne, making him the perfect replacement for the Belgian – on paper, at least.
Finally unveiled on Wednesday, 11 June, he is arguably the statement signing of what looks to be a continued spending spree which began back in January.
With Man City splashing roughly £200m to kick off the 2025 calendar year as they brought the likes of Omar Marmoush and a trio of defensively geared players in Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and CDM Nico Gonzalez, it seems like they started as they mean to go on.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak assured fans that the club would be picking up “several players” in a recent interview after he argued they hadn’t been aggressive enough last summer, and given that the current main window hasn’t even been open for a fortnight yet, we’d say he’s sticking to that promise.
This year actually marks a rare instance of the transfer window being broken up into two parts due to the FIFA Club World Cup (which City are among the favourites to win) and will then re-open on 16 June.
Nevertheless, the Blues look to have got plenty of their business done already, not only with the arrival of Reijnders but the acquisition of left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri earlier this week, plus another attack-minded midfielder, Rayan Cherki.
The second player of Algerian descent and the second signing of the summer window was quickly announced by the Man City social media team just before the Dutchman.
Along with the signing of a new shotstopper, Marcus Betinelli from Chelsea – set to replace former reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson, who left the club after six seasons on Monday – that makes it four new incoming already.
Once again, not only do these latest additions to Pep Guardiola’s squad take their transfer total to over £300m on new talent in 2025, but there is still plenty of time for City to sign even more players with the summer window not closing until 7pm BST on 1 September.
Although the club have now acquired all of the players they have been most publicly linked with so far, it’s unclear whether their spending will continue or if the focus now turns to the Club World Cup getting underway this month and preparing the current squad for next season.
What do you make of Man City‘s latest recruits? Don’t forget, there have been some new arrivals in the backroom as well.
Danny Jones -
15th May 2024 
