Manchester City's shot-stopper Stefan Ortega has sparked a stir with some unpleasant comments about the city of Liverpool following his side's defeat at Anfield.
Standing in for Ederson as the surprise starting goalkeeper, Ortega saw Mohamed Salah slot home a second-half penalty to help the Reds clinch a 2-0 Premier League victory on Sunday afternoon.
Cody Gakpo had already given the hosts an early lead, propelling Liverpool to an immense 11-point lead over City in the league table.
The upset marked City's fourth consecutive league loss and their sixth defeat in seven outings across all competitions, leading to chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning" aimed at Pep Guardiola in jest from the vibrant Anfield crowd.
In response, Guardiola held up six fingers - a nod to his Premier League title haul with City, a count coincidentally matching Liverpool’s tally of European Cups.
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Following the match, during a radio interview when asked about the taunting chants, Ortega responded: "Someone told me before that this area (Liverpool) is probably not the best part in the UK."
He added on Guardiola's reaction to the jeers: "I think he reacted really well, yeah."
Ortega's comments have understandably been met with anger from Liverpool supporters on social media.
Guardiola said of the chants that came his way: "I'm so proud of my six Premier Leagues against that [Liverpool] team and the previous team [under Jurgen Klopp].
"I didn't expect Anfield to start chanting at 0-2 that I would be sacked. Maybe I deserved to be sacked with our results! Maybe I'm still in the job because I won six Premier Leagues and a lot of titles.
"They want to sack me. I wish they were more kind. Why didn't they do it at 0-1? Why didn't they do it last season when we won the Premier League?
"Why do they want to sack me now? I didn't expect that from Anfield, for other clubs like Brighton I can understand it.
"But for Anfield I didn't expect this, maybe it is the respect we have. They know we have won six Premier Leagues. But it's fine, it's part of the game."
