A furious Bernardo Silva didn’t hold back in his assessment of Manchester City’s defeat to Manchester United, calling out “stupid” decisions and comparing the team to an “under-15” side.
City looked relatively comfortable after Josko Gvardiol’s first-half header put them ahead. But with five minutes to go, a poor back pass from Matheus Nunes sent Amad Diallo through on goal, and the City midfielder’s desire to spot that initial mistake saw him bring down Amad and concede a penalty, from which Bruno Fernandes leveled things up.
Less than two minutes later, City were caught asleep as Amad rounded Ederson and fired a shot past two defenders on the line to City suffered an eighth defeat in their last 11 games in all competitions.
“We deserved what happened,” said a furious Silva Sky Sports. “At this level, a game or two is unlucky. We can’t call that lucky or unlucky – ten games, that’s not what it’s about.
“87th minute in a derby, winning 1-0 and our corner ends in a penalty for them, if we make those stupid decisions with three or four minutes to go you deserve to pay for it. Looking at the game I think there was only a team that could win the game, but in the end we lost.
“It’s not one game, there’s been a lot of them lately. We have to look at ourselves. You can say, ‘oh, that’s a bit of bad luck’, no. It’s the decisions you make. Today, in the last minute, we played as Under-15.
“We don’t want them to pass. 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. After a corner for Man City, you leave a cross. Back, Ruben ( Dias) stayed, but we end up with the ball to our goalkeeper. There is no excuse.
Silva then called out specific teammates, targeting Nunes, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker during the first united target
“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 because we play short or to keep the ball in the corner or something like that.
“At least if the ball ends up with one of our midfielders, he just puts it in the corner. Don’t put yourself under pressure. It’s not just the pass from Matheus to the goalkeeper. It’s everything, how Ruben finishes the ball to Matheus. And Kyle.. .we have to be more experienced, smarter, even if you are better than the opponent.
“It’s quite normal that we’re not very happy at the moment. Not just this game, but the last month. We have to do better individually and collectively because it’s not Manchester City standards.”
city they return to action on Saturday with a tricky trip to face Aston Villa, before closing 2024 against Everton and Leicester City.
