Bernardo Silva: Arsenal Benefiting from City’s Transitional Season
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has suggested that Arsenal’s push for the Premier League title has been aided by City’s transitional season.
Arsenal currently lead the table by two points with two games remaining, and Mikel Arteta’s side could extend their advantage to five points with victory over Burnley on Monday before City face Bournemouth next Tuesday, three days after their FA Cup final against Chelsea.
Reflecting on the title race, Silva argued that Liverpool have been City’s main rivals during his nine years at the club and claimed Arsenal would not be in contention if City had avoided costly errors.
‘If we were not in a transitional season and if we didn’t make so many mistakes, we would have won this league,’ Silva told The Athletic. ‘I don’t say we would have won easily, but we would have won this league. So it’s quite frustrating.’
Silva also criticized refereeing consistency, describing the decision to rule out West Ham’s goal against Arsenal last weekend as ‘frustrating.’
He echoed Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler’s concerns about time-wasting at set-pieces, noting that delays over throw-ins, free kicks, and corners are ‘not the way the game should be going.’
Despite his frustrations, Silva acknowledged Arsenal’s progress under Arteta, saying: ‘They’ve been growing and it’s a team that has been together for five years now, so it’s only natural that they would start challenging for titles.’
With two matches left, Arsenal remain in pole position to secure their first Premier League crown since 2004, while City will look to capitalize on any slip-ups as they chase a fourth consecutive title.
