Bernardo Silva says Manchester City’s dramatic late win at Liverpool was essential to keep their Premier League title challenge alive.
MANCHESTER CITY captain Bernardo Silva declared his side “needed” their dramatic 2-1 victory at Liverpool to keep the Premier League title race alive. The visitors were moments away from falling nine points behind leaders Arsenal before a stunning late comeback at Anfield.
City trailed to a stunning Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick until Silva’s 84th-minute equaliser sparked a chaotic finale. Erling Haaland then put the visitors ahead three minutes into stoppage time, but the drama was far from over.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker went forward for a late corner, leading to a remarkable sequence. Gianluigi Donnarumma produced an incredible save to deny Alexis Mac Allister, before Rayan Cherki thought he had sealed victory by rolling the ball into an empty net from the halfway line.
However, the goal was ruled out after Szoboszlai was adjudged to have pulled Haaland back before the Norwegian retaliated. Szoboszlai was shown a red card for committing the first offence, extinguishing Liverpool’s last hope.
“For the distance that we have to Arsenal, coming here it is the toughest place in the Premier League by far,” said Silva. “I feel the whole team knew before the game, if we lost it then the title race was probably over. We felt like we needed to win.”
The victory is City’s first in front of a crowd away to Liverpool since 2003. It also completed a league double over the Reds for the first time since 1937.
“The hope is there and we are going to fight until the end,” Silva added. “We need to keep doing our job that we haven’t lately. It has been frustrating the beginning of the year because we have not done our job properly. We could be closer to Arsenal.”
Despite the significance of the win, Silva stressed the points count the same as any other game. The result keeps the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the table as the season enters its decisive phase.
