Stefan Ortega facing backlash for making 'insulting' comment about Liverpool after Man City defeat

Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has received backlash for comments he made about Liverpool after the 2-0 defeat at Anfield on Sunday.

Ortega started the fixture in place of regular goalkeeper Ederson in a surprise decision from Pep Guardiola, who was attempting to stop City from suffering a fourth consecutive defeat in the Premier League.

But it didn't quite happen, with Cody Gakpo opening the scoring early on before Mo Salah bagged a second from the spot after Ortega brought down Luis Diaz in the area.

Defending Premier League champions City have now gone a remarkable seven games without a win to drop to fifth in the table and Guardiola was subjected to chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" by Liverpool fans.

The Catalan responded by holding up six fingers to refer to the amount of Premier League titles he has won since taking the City job in 2016. Ortega was asked about it in a post-match interview and said he had heard that Liverpool "is probably not the best part of the UK" - a comment which many branded "tasteless" and "nasty".

Asked if Guardiola's gesture would urge City players to "prove people wrong", Ortega told talkSPORT: "Probably. Someone told me before that this area is probably not the best part of the UK. Yeah, I think the manager reacted really well."

Guardiola's antics evoked memories of Jose Mourinho boasting of his trophies and had fans claiming he had "lost his head". After the game, the City boss addressed his gesture and admitted he was surprised that Anfield erupted in the "sacked" chants.

"I didn't expect Anfield to start chanting at 0-2 that I would be sacked," Guardiola said.

"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."

Pep Guardiola holds up six fingers to reference how many Premier Leagues he has won. Image: Getty

City are back in action on Wednesday when the host Nottingham Forest, who are just one point and one place behind them in the Premier League table after 13 games.