Manchester City star explains Community Shield controversy

Bernardo Silva stole the spotlight as Manchester City edged rivals Manchester United on penalties in last week’s FA Community Shield.

The Portuguese midfielder had only been back in training for a matter of days, having missed the vast majority of pre-season after reaching the European Championship quarter-finals with his nation.

However, Silva showed few signs of rust when he came off the bench at Wembley Stadium to score a last-minute equaliser, heading home Oscar Bobb’s cross, to cancel out an Alejandro Garnacho goal that had looked for all the world like a decisive strike.

Silva, who has been a mainstay in Pep Guardiola’s side since his surprise signing from AS Monaco in 2017, did not need to rue missing the first penalty of the shoot-out, as Pep Guardiola’s side came away with the trophy thanks to Jonny Evans’ miss and Manuel Akanji’s cool decisive spot-kick.

Despite only spending 10 minutes plus injury time on the pitch, the 30-year-old also came under fire for a particularly robust challenge on Garnacho shortly after the Argentine winger had knocked the ball away as City chased a leveller.

Silva was booked for the tackle, which he later explained: “I was thinking that it was a foul for us and that he doesn’t need to touch the ball. So if he touches the ball, I’m allowed to do something like that.

“I know that I will get a yellow card, but the rules are the rules. I’m happy with my yellow card. At that time of the game we’re losing, we need to start with the game and the tactics of delaying the game. I don’t like it, and that was it.”

The former Benfica youngster has been instrumental in nearly every trophy City have won during Guardiola’s time at the club, but he has rarely taken penalties outside of his national team.

Silva mentioned after the game that he may not be at the top of the list the next time his club side find themselves in a shoot-out, following successive misses against Real Madrid and Manchester United.

“Pep already told me that I’m not taking the next one, so you guys don’t need to worry about that! I feel a bit frustrated [because] the penalty was not what I practised at all in training. And it’s the second one in a row that I miss for Man City. So yeah, a bit frustrated.”

Regardless, the midfielder was in good spirits after opening City’s season with a victory and a trophy against their bitter rivals, particularly after the disappointment of last season’s FA Cup defeat at Erik ten Hag’s hands.