Stefan Ortega was at fault in last year's FA Cup final but should still get the starting spot for Manchester City at Wembley against Crystal Palace this weekend.
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TOPSHOT - Manchester City's Croatian defender #24 Josko Gvardiol (C) heads the ball past his team goalkeeper Manchester City's German goalkeeper #18 Stefan Ortega next to Manchester United's Argentinian midfielder #17 Alejandro Garnacho (R) during the English FA Cup final football match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley stadium, in London, on May 25, 2024. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Stefan Ortega has unfinished business at Man City - and at Wembley - in the FA Cup this weekend.
Pep Guardiola is likely to make at least one change to his Manchester City starting XI for the FA Cup final.
Not because City drew with Southampton last weekend in a frustrating performance that saw the system which thrived without Erling Haaland struggle to involve the striker on his return. A change in shape feels likely given Guardiola's substitutes at St Mary's were all designed to return to a wider, more open formation and Haaland will almost certainly not be dropped.
City are in their third FA Cup final in a row, with seven players starting both of the previous two meetings with Manchester United. Of that group, three players definitely won't feature for a third time, two probably will but face competition, and only two can be confident of making it three in a row.
Haaland is one, and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega is another even though he is second-choice in the squad and this game will define whether City's season can be considered anything near successful. Rodri and John Stones are injured while Kyle Walker is out on loan, and Kevin De Bruyne will be fighting to start alongside Bernardo Silva.
Two years ago, Guardiola's pre-match backing of Ortega to start over Ederson led the national back pages on cup final day. A 'cup final gamble' was the headline as City and United fans headed south.
Yet Guardiola was clear: "He’s going to play yeah. It's always like that, even in Barcelona, Bayern Munich. The keeper who has played FA Cup is going to play FA Cup."
Ortega flirted with leaving City last summer in search of more regular minutes but signed a new contract instead as he had unfinished business. He was at fault for United's opener in the 2024 final defeat, rushing out to a ball he was never going to win, only for Josko Gvardiol to head over him and provide Alejandro Garnacho with the easiest goal of his career.
"First of all, it's hard if an opponent just plays long balls, long balls, long balls. And we always have a high line," he told the Manchester Evening News this summer in defence of the error. "If you have to defend 20 balls and it happens once, one ball is dangerous. In this case, I shouted to Josko, maybe not too loud, so he didn't hear me. It just happens in football, no more than that."
Ortega moved on from the cup final mistake as quickly as he did from his title-defining save from Son Heung-Min at Tottenham a few days earlier. "This is what I do every day," he said in the same interview. "It's not a surprise for me to save the ball. The only thing is the surroundings on this night, where it's just massive. That's why the save is that big. But for me this is what I do every day."
The German played in every round of the previous two FA Cup campaigns, but has sat on the bench against Salford and Bournemouth in order to give Ederson a chance to return to action after injuries. This season, Ortega has 20 appearances, the same as last year but with a personal best of 13 Premier League outings.
Guardiola believes he has two number one standard goalkeepers in his squad, and Txiki Begiristain hailed Ortega as the best number two in the world when he committed to his new contract. There have been some shaky moments this season in a campaign where shaky moments have characterised the whole team.
How he would love to put right those little annoyances - and the big one from last season's cup final - if he gets the nod as expected on Saturday.
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