Pep Guardiola dished out one of his infamous on-pitch rants to goalkeeper Stefan Ortega after Manchester City’s eventful 2-2 draw with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Tuesday night.
Phil Foden’s second-half brace had City on course for a third successive Premier League win, but Brentford’s Yoane Wissa pulled one back in the 82nd minute before skipper Christian Norgaard nodded in an added-time equaliser.
Ortega got a hand to Norgaard’s header but couldn’t keep it out, and after the game he was on the receiving end of Guardiola’s unique brand of tough love. The City manager hugged, punched, kissed and screamed at his keeper in an animated debrief at full-time, and also shared a similar conversation with defender Josko Gvardiol.
Asked about those interactions, the City manager said: “[It was about] how good [Gvardiol] played. He played an incredible game. We were talking [about] one action, the same with Ortega. How good he played, his actions with the ball, how good he passed to Erling [Haaland], how happy and satisfied I am, especially with these two players for what they have done.”
Guardiola said he needed to think about the reasons why City are prone to throwing away leads after they shipped a two-goal advantage. The draw adds to a string of similar collapses this season, including their derby defeat to Manchester United where two late goals from a winning position saw them lose at home to Ruben Amorim’s men last month.
“We have the situation we have, I think it’s a little different to games like the United game but it’s true and I need to think about it. We were close and we had chances, we didn’t take the right decisions. At the end they put a lot in the box and he (Norgaard) was there.”
The Dane was unmarked in added time and managed to power his header past Stefan Ortega, who palmed the effort into the net. Guardiola said that his side being inferior to Brentford from a physical point of view was a factor in them conceding the late goal.
He explained: “Between 2-1 and 2-2 it was good, we controlled but after that they put players in the box, they are stronger than us in that department and they equalised. They put six or seven in the box for crosses and (in that area) they are better. They are taller, they are stronger with the head.
“Of course we were tired but we couldn’t close the cross, our holding midfielders don’t have the skills to defend these type of balls because we have other types of players right now and we couldn’t defend that situation.”
Brentford’s fightback against the champions comes after their disappointing FA Cup exit to Championship strugglers Plymouth on Saturday.
“The whole performance – I’m extremely happy with that,” Bees boss Thomas Frank said. “We went toe-for-toe with one of the best teams in the world who can produce unbelievable pieces of brilliance. It was a well-deserved point. We lacked cutting edge before the goal but we showed that in the last 10, where we showed a fantastic mentality.”
additional reporting by PA
