Bernardo Silva reveals how Man City exploited Arsenal tactics in 4-1 win
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva admitted Mikel Arteta’s tactics were “perfect” to exploit as Pep Guardiola’s side beat the Premier League leaders 4-1.
A dominating performance from City moved the defending champions just two points behind Arsenal, who played two games more than their nearest rivals, giving City significant control in the title race.
Arsenal’s attempts to tag Mann backfired when City went mad and after the game Silva admitted they expected it.
“We knew they could play man-to-man and we tried to challenge them as much as possible because if they played us man-to-man they had to face Kevin [De Bruyne] and Erling [Haaland] at forward,” he said. said.
“It will never be easy at this stage. “This team was perfect for Kevin because they were man-to-man [in defense] and they gave Kevin and Erling space to collide,” Silva said. “When you give them that space, they’re so hard to defend [against]. Two running beasts – Kevin with passing, Erling with scoring. Today was the other way around.
“They did it perfectly, they created a lot of chances. We could have scored even more. Today we tried to leave them alone [on the pitch], giving them as much space as possible to run and create chances and they succeeded perfectly.”
Adjusting to the game under Haaland hasn’t always been easy for City, despite the Norwegian’s scoring record, and it’s something Silva has had to work through.
“We changed the way we play because we’ve never had such an attacking player,” said Silva. “The coach has also changed the structure a bit compared to the last few years, so maybe it took us a while to get used to it.”
City will have a chance to beat Arsenal in the Premier League when they travel to Fulham on Sunday, two days before the Gunners host Chelsea.
Guardiola’s side face West Ham in their first match on Wednesday 3 May, and the two sides will ultimately be level when City face Brighton three weeks later.
Do you think his explanations were good enough to back Manchester city’s victory? Leave your comments…