When Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson lay injured on the turf after colliding with Tottenham’s Cristian Romero on Tuesday evening, it was fair to wonder how the Brazilian would react.
It felt like a pivotal point in this season’s title race. Ederson continued for a few minutes, misplacing a pass, before City manager Pep Guardiola took off his trusted No 1 and brought on his experienced No 2, Stefan Ortega.
As his number was called, Ederson looked furious at the decision, arguing with Guardiola on his way to the touchline and kicking out at a nearby object before taking his seat on the bench. Ederson wanted to continue, but the reality was that City, chasing a fourth consecutive Premier League title, had to make a change.
With his jersey covering his face in an attempt to hide the tears streaming down his face, Ederson looked totally dejected. It was the second time in as many months (and the fourth time this season) that Ortega needed to step in for an injured Ederson in a vital match. Just like against Liverpool in the middle of March, the German goalkeeper emphatically delivered during his brief cameo.
Ortega’s impact was instant. Just two minutes after entering the pitch, he denied Dejan Kulusevski with a smart save at his near post as the momentum of the match began to move into Tottenham’s favour. Less than 10 minutes later, Ortega was again required to thwart Kulusevski at his near post after the Swede broke through the City back line and was free on goal.
Then, in the 86th minute, after City defender Manuel Akanji made a huge blunder and lost the ball while running toward his own goal, Son Heung-min suddenly became one-on-one with Ortega. At 1-0 and with the Premier League title on the line, Ortega stood tall and made what may turn out to be the save of the season. Just four minutes later, City got the cushion they needed, adding a second goal from a Erling Haaland penalty, to win the match 2-0.
Ortega saves from Son (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
In total, there were three chances for Tottenham that required three one-on-one saves by Ortega, each of them executed to perfection. If City go on to win the league from here this season, these three stunning saves will be a major reason why.
Though each of them were special and are worth highlighting, we will focus on two — his stop on Kulusevski in the 71st minute and his late stop on Son.
First, his stop on Kulusevski.
Importantly for Ortega, one of the first things he did once entering the pitch was get a quick touch on the ball after receiving a backpass, before booting it upfield. The early touch on the ball crucially built confidence, helped calm his nerves and immediately introduced him into the game.
Nearly a minute later, Ortega was called into action. After a quick exchange of passes on the right side of the field, Brennan Johnson sent a cutback into the box to an onrushing Kulusevski.
In goal, Ortega mirrored the play in front of him. He quickly made small positional adjustments as Kulusevski had the ball at his feet and took up a position at his near post where he could be set for a shot on target (the white arrows) or ready to react should the Swede try to dribble around the closing pressure (the black dotted line).
As Kulusevski elected for the latter option, a fortunate bounce of the ball saw him suddenly free and in on goal.
It wasn’t until the Spurs attacker put his head down, signalling his intention to shoot, that Ortega pounced, moving towards the ball, dropping his trailing leg to the ground and throwing his hands towards the finish. Suddenly, from that angle, Kulusevski had next to no chance of beating him.
Had the German used the traditional spread technique here — which would have resulted in him leaving his feet and launching his hands and feet at the ball — it’s possible he would have exposed his goal with the areas above and below his arms, and the space between his legs. Had he used the traditional smother and tried to take the ball off Kulusevski’s feet, the Swede would have been able to dink the ball over him into the goal.
Without Ortega’s patience in his approach and ability to keep his body as big as possible, while also keeping himself on his feet as long as possible, he never would have covered the net so efficiently while throwing his body toward the ball to make the save.
As good as his save on Kulusevski was, Ortega’s stop against Son was even better.
Big players are made by big moments and, with a fourth consecutive Premier League title hanging in the balance, an error by City’s Akanji gave Son a chance to level the score for Tottenham. Had he done so and the game had ended in a draw, it would have opened the door for Arsenal in the title race — they would have been at the top of the table on goal difference with one game remaining.
Some attention here should be paid to a keeper’s starting position in one-on-ones. In most cases, a keeper should be roughly around the edge of their six-yard box. Anything more than that and they risk exposing their goal to a chip, an easily placed shot, or be dribbled around. Any deeper and they will be less able to close down the attacker — and the aim of the keeper in one-on-ones is always to minimise space and angles.
Due to City’s high line, Ortega’s initial positioning was just above his 18-yard box…
With Son through on goal, Ortega’s reaction to the danger is instant and, rather than try and rush outside his box and win the ball ahead of Son (something he would have never succeeded in doing), he quickly started to backpedal before getting set just ahead of his six-yard-box.
By retreating and holding his position, Ortega forced Son to either lift the ball over him (curved black arrow) or beat him for power (white arrow); not rushing out meant he couldn’t be dribbled around either.
You may have heard the goalkeeping term “make yourself big” before — chest and head square, arms wide at your side and feet a shoulder-width apart. Ortega’s use of the spread against Son is the perfect example.
But even when you get the technique right, your timing also needs to be perfect. Advance too quickly and you risk colliding with your opponent and conceding a penalty. Arrive too late and you’re in no-man’s land, unable to impact the play, leading to clear-cut chances and easy goals. In this instance, Ortega eliminated the space and spread himself incredibly well, fully extending his right leg to make the save as Son opted to try to shoot past him.
In a starfish-like spread, Ortega importantly increased his surface area and maximised his chances of touching the ball, while also getting a big surface onto the ball to deflect it away from his goal and prevent a rebound or the concession of a corner.
For a second or two, it felt like the moment that could deny City the title.
The stadium held its breath — Guardiola even fell to the floor in concern — but all Son could do was shoot straight at Ortega.
No one could quite believe it.
It felt like Arjen Robben’s miss in the 2010 World Cup final against Spain. Minutes later, Haaland buried the penalty that returned City to pole position in the title race.
When the final whistle sounded and City stood one win away from being champions again, Guardiola headed straight for Ortega and greeted the German with a kiss on the cheek. It was richly deserved.
In his post-match interview, Guardiola gave special mention to his goalkeeper, heaping praise on the importance of his performance.
“He saves us, otherwise Arsenal are champions. That is the reality,” he said. “The margins are so tight. Oh my God, the save from Son. It was incredible. One-on-one, Stefan is one of the best keepers I’ve seen in my entire life. It’s the German culture — stand up, don’t go down.”
Though Guardiola said his decision to replace Ederson was largely due to the advice taken from the club’s doctor, it’s beyond question that City benefited from having one of the game’s best goalkeepers in one-on-one situations — in Ortega — brought into the game, especially with Tottenham gaining momentum and the game starting to open up.
It just so happens to be one of Ederson’s shortcomings as a goalkeeper.
Though this is an area in which Ederson has worked tirelessly and seen improvement in his decision-making over the past few years (leading to more calculated interventions), he still has a way to go to be regarded as a one-on-one expert. While Ortega’s approach feels calm, calculated and precise, Ederson can be impulsive, often electing to frantically rush out of his goal, which is both his strength and his weakness in breakaway situations.
Ederson elects to come toward the attacker at pace in an attempt to stress and press with his size and speed in the hope of forcing a poor decision. It can help that he’s fearless, even in the most intimidating 50-50 challenges with the attacker — his collision with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane from 2017 comes to mind — but it has also occasionally caused City to concede goals in moments when you’d expect the goalkeeper to make a save.
It’s fair to wonder: if Ederson was still on the field, even at full fitness, whether he would have had the patience and composure required to make the final save against Son?
In total, Ortega has saved 11 of the 13 shots on target he’s faced when coming on as a substitute in the Premier League this season (85 per cent), including each of the last 11 in a row. The seven saves he made in only 55 minutes against Liverpool and Tottenham will go down as his most vital.
11 – Stefan Ortega has saved 11 of the 13 shots on target he’s faced when coming on as a substitute in the Premier League this season (85%), including each of the last 11 in a row. Priceless. pic.twitter.com/ISeQDlLwOE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 14, 2024
A save will never weigh as heavily as a goal in terms of football moments, and it’s therefore understandable that Haaland may grab some headlines as his remarkable goalscoring feats continue, but for City, Ortega’s save against Son was their season there and then.
It is one moment that ensures that the hundreds of others throughout the season — Haaland’s goals, Kevin De Bruyne’s assists, Phil Foden’s winners, Nathan Ake’s blocks, Rodri’s everything — will likely count for something.
Since signing for City on a free transfer from German side Arminia Bielefeld in 2022, he’s filled in for Ederson while the Brazilian battled injuries and performed outstandingly, but none of his moments have been as big as this one.
City are now in the position they have occupied so often and one from which they rarely slip. If they go on to beat West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and are crowned champions, Ortega deserves so much of the credit for making it happen.
GO DEEPER
Manchester City finally have their ‘moment’ courtesy of Stefan Ortega