Peter Schmeichel slams Pep Guardiola's decision to drop Man City starter for FA Cup final

Peter Schmeichel has questioned why Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has chosen to 'penalise' Ederson by starting Stefan Ortega in the FA Cup final.

City's Brazilian goalkeeper has played the vast majority of matches this season in the Premier League and Champions League. However, in the FA Cup Ortega has been chosen in goal.

Despite reaching the final, Guardiola confirmed in his pre-match press conference the German would be picked to face Manchester United in keeping with his decisions so far in the competition. When asked about how he would react to being dropped for the final, Schmeichel admitted he would not be happy and slammed the Catalan boss' thinking.

ALSO READ: City vs United FA Cup final LIVE

"I would not have been happy [about being dropped]," the Dane told BBC Sport. "You go through so many difficult periods and you work hard, you do that for these opportunities.

"If you have the opportunity to play in the FA Cup final, you want to do that, and if you’re no.1 why are you getting penalised for being a goalkeeper? I understand that if anything happens to your No. 1 goalkeeper, you need to play now and again the second one, but not in a final. I don’t think so."

Elsewhere in the City team, Guardiola has opted to go for his strongest options. Erling Haaland has returned to lead the forward line after being rested against Brentford last weekend.

Injury doubts Ruben Dias, Manu Akanji, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish were all welcomed back into the fold as the City look to secure their second major trophy of the season.

READ NEXT: