Manchester City’s second-choice goalkeeper Stefan Ortega put in a first-class performance after coming off the bench to replace the injured Ederson in his team’s 2-0 win against Tottenham in the Premier League.
The Brazilian suffered a head injury and City’s medical staff advised Pep Guardiola to replace him in the 69th minute, bringing Ortega into the fray.
Stefan Ortega’s match-winning performance
Despite playing under 30 minutes during Tottenham vs Man City, the visitors’ substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega walked away with the Player of the Match award for his clutch saves.
He came on following an incident in which Ederson suffered a head injury after colliding with Tottenham defender Cristian Romero. The latter went for a 50-50 but caught the custodian in his head with his hip bone, causing Ederson to fall flat to the ground. Medical staff rushed onto the scene and he was responsive and seemed okay after several minutes of treatment. However, the medical staff asked Guardiola to sub him off to avoid further complications.
Ortega made his mark with a point-blank save to deny Dejan Kulusevski what would have been an equalizer for Tottenham. He then made a key save late in the game to deny Heung-min Son in a one-vs-one chance after Manuel Akanji had his pocket picked following tardy play.
Due to the nature of his saves, and the significance they had in this match as well as the title race, Ortega was named Player of the Match after Tottenham vs Man City.
Key moments during Tottenham vs Man City
Both teams began the game sharply as they looked to gain an early advantage in the game. Tottenham were spared their blushes early on as Erling Haaland broke free on goal but play was pulled back as he appeared to have fouled Cristian Romero in the build-up.
Later in the first period, Rodrigo Bentancur was extremely lucky to receive only a yellow card after a severely ill-timed tackle on Phil Foden. He was later subbed off and was seen kicking the chair in the stands.
Just five minutes into the second period, Tottenham showed lack of urgency in dealing with a cross as they let the ball roll to the far post. Kevin De Bruyne made a smart run in behind to receive the ball near the byline, before squaring it across the face of goal for Haaland to tap-in.
Guardiola decided to bring Jeremy Doku onto the pitch in the 70th minute and the Belgian stunned the hosts with his footwork, earning the penalty which City scored from to double their lead late in the contest. As a result, Guardiola’s men secured a well-deserved win.
ALSO READ: