**Pep Guardiola Explains Post-Match Exchange with Stefan Ortega After Brentford Draw**
Manchester City’s hopes of maintaining their winning streak were thwarted on Tuesday night as Brentford held the reigning champions to a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium.
City appeared on course for a comfortable victory after leading 2-0, but a late surge from Brentford, with goals from Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard, secured a valuable point for the home side. The result left City in sixth place, 12 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
### **Animated Post-Match Exchange**
Immediately following the final whistle, cameras captured an intense exchange between Pep Guardiola and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, which quickly went viral. The City manager, visibly frustrated, appeared to sternly address Ortega multiple times as they walked toward the tunnel. Defender Josko Gvardiol also received some pointed remarks from Guardiola in the aftermath of the match.
### **Guardiola’s Explanation**
When questioned about the heated discussions during his post-match interview, Guardiola clarified the nature of the exchanges.
“How good he [Gvardiol] played,” Guardiola began. “He played an incredible game. We talked about one action, but it’s the same with Ortega—I told him how good he played, how good his pass to Erling [Haaland] was, and how satisfied I am with these two players, especially.”
### **Guardiola Reflects on Missed Opportunities**
Analyzing the match, Guardiola pointed to key moments where City failed to capitalize.
“The last minutes we didn’t manage well at 2-0, but after 2-1, we managed better—sometimes that happens,” he said.
He added: “McAtee must shoot in that action. Imagine if he doesn’t shoot, makes an extra pass, and maybe the game ends there, but he has to shoot to score. Savinho also had a chance to pass to Erling when it was one-on-one. Today, we didn’t make the right decisions in the final third.”
### **What’s Next for City**
Following the draw, City remain in sixth place in the Premier League table, while Brentford continues to enjoy their impressive home form. City will look to bounce back on Sunday when they face Ipswich Town at Portman Road. Meanwhile, Guardiola will hope his squad can refocus and address the lapses that have hampered their title defense.
Speaking after the match, Guardiola told TNT Sports: “We are disappointed because we were 2-0 up, we didn’t manage before 2-1.
“After, we managed really good. At the end, they put a lot of players in the box, we are not strong there because of the options that we have. Unfortunately, we could not close the game. We didn’t take the right decisions in the final third.”
He continued: “The people up front were brilliant but we didn’t take the right decisions. Commit a bit more, attack more the keeper.
“But it’s fine. It’s not a nice place to come. Maybe in other years, we had more chances when we came here. But we did not win – it is what it is. We have to manage a little bit better but today was not bad.”
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