Angry Man City star Bernardo Silva hits out after Arsenal clash

Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday after a late goal from Gabriel Martinelli

Manchester City star Bernardo Silva lashed out at scheduling arrangements following a 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Gabriel Martinelli netted in stoppage time to secure a point for Mikel Arteta’s side after Erling Haaland’s early goal appeared to have sealed a crucial victory for Pep Guardiola’s men.

However, they failed to maintain their advantage as Arsenal’s substitutes once again proved decisive, leaving Silva seething after a busy week of action for his side with the Champions League kicking off in midweek. UEFA spread the opening Champions League fixtures across three evenings last week, with the fixture list meaning City welcomed Napoli at 8pm on Thursday – over 50 hours after Arsenal had begun their clash in Bilbao on Tuesday.

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Guardiola remained diplomatic when questioned about the timetable, though skipper Silva was far less reserved following the 1-1 stalemate, reports the Manchester Evening News.

“I am saying this because we didn’t lose. If we lost, I wouldn’t say this,” Silva said.

“But the reality is we cannot come to one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage, in terms of rest.

“It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right.

“They had five days, and we had two and a half days. In one of the most important games, this cannot happen. I wasn’t feeling in a perfect condition to play like this, and people who have not played at the highest level don’t know how it feels to play a game like this.

“They don’t listen to us. It is what it is. We would like to change something. But it never changes. It does not really matter, but for the fans, for the respect of the clubs, and for the fairness of the competition, I don’t think what happened today was good.”

City’s clash at Arsenal had already been set for Sunday by Premier League broadcasters when UEFA decided to release their fixtures for their opening round of Champions League games.

“The schedule is the schedule and I understand you have different competitions and UEFA, the Premier League, and the broadcasters want to make their money and I understand all those sorts of things,” he said.

“We don’t mind playing every three or four days, and we don’t mind playing 60 games because we are used to that. But what we ask for is common sense because this is one of the biggest games of the season.

“But when you are playing an Arsenal vs City or a City vs Liverpool or Liverpool vs Arsenal, you need to have a bit of common sense, and understanding of these situations and in such an important game, the players need to be in the same physical conditions – otherwise I don’t think it is fair. I know it might have happened to other teams in the past.

“We can lose any game in good conditions or bad conditions, but we need the respect and the common sense to be at the same level to compete.

“Today it did not feel like we were in the same physical condition as them.

“I felt the difference in the first half. If you play at the highest level you know that two days playing against one of the best teams in the league, away, with the travel, you need at least one more day to recover.

“It doesn’t matter if Arsenal had four, five or six days (to recover), just give us one more day, and that gives us three-and-a-half days, and then you make it an even game.

“Two-and-a-half-days is not enough to recover our bodies and to perform at the highest level. It is just not enough.”

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