Bernardo Silva launches stunning criticism of Man City after Man Utd defeat
- Man City fell to late 2-1 defeat to Man Utd
- Two goals in final five minutes handed Red Devils dramatic victory
- Silva lashed out at his teammates after eighth defeat in 11 games
By Tom Gott
A furious Bernardo Silva did not hold back in his assessment of Manchester City's defeat to Manchester United, blasting "stupid" decisions and comparing the team to an "Under-15" side.
City were relatively comfortable after Josko Gvardiol's first-half header put them ahead. But, with five minutes remaining, a poor backpass from Matheus Nunes sent Amad Diallo racing through on goal, and the City midfielder's desire to atone for that initial error saw him clatter into Amad and concede a penalty, from which Bruno Fernandes levelled things up.
Less than two minutes later, City were caught sleeping as Amad rounded Ederson and trickled a shot beyond two defenders on the line to hand City an eighth defeat in their last 11 games in all competitions.
"We deserved what happened," a furious Silva told Sky Sports. "At this level, a game or two is unlucky. We can't say this is lucky or unlucky - ten games, it's not about that.
"Minute 87 in a derby, winning 1-0 and our corner ends in a penalty for them, if we make these stupid decisions with three or four minutes to go you deserve to pay for that. Looking at the game I think there was only one team that could win the game, but at the end we lost.
"It's not one game, it's a lot of games lately. We have to look at ourselves. You can say, 'oh that's a bit unlucky', no. It's the decisions you make. Today, in the last minute, we played like Under-15s.
"We don’t want them to happen. It's a bit frustrating because if you look at the game until [the] 86th minute there was only one team that could win the game. Then from a corner for Man City, you leave a centre back, Ruben [Dias] stayed, but we end up with the ball at our keeper. There's no excuse for that."
Silva then went on to call out specific teammates, taking aim at Nunes, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker over the first United goal.
"When it happens in ten games, we have to look at ourselves and see what we can do better," he continued. "There needs to be communication for us to play short or to keep the ball in the corner or something.
"At least if the ball ends up with one of our midfielders, just put it in the corner. Not put yourself under pressure. It's not just the pass from Matheus to the keeper. It's everything, how the ball ends up from Ruben to Matheus and Kyle...we have to do better. Be more experienced, smarter, at this level even if you're better than the opponent. You deserve to lose the game.
"It's quite normal that we're not very happy at the minute. Not just this game but the last month. We have to do better individually and collectively because it's not the standards of Manchester City."
City are back in action on Saturday with a tricky trip to face Aston Villa, before then closing out 2024 against Everton and Leicester City.
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