Pep Guardiola lauds brilliant Bernardo Silva winner against Aston Villa in their important 2-1 win

Manchester City maintained their consistency with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League. Bernardo Silva scored the winner for  Pep Guardiola’s men as they chase Premier League leaders Chelsea. It was a rather important game for City and Ruben Dias handed them the lead with Bernardo Silva scoring a fantastic volley to double the lead.

Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins pulled back a goal for the hosts but it was not enough for them to turn the tide in their favour. City continue to put pressure on Chelsea as they are only a point behind the Blues. However, a slip up here will cause problems for Guardiola’s men as they are only a point ahead of Liverpool. Therefore Bernardo Silva’s goal at that point was very important for the Citizens.

“He is the best,” Guardiola said. “He was the best two or three seasons ago. He was the best then too. He has a special ability to do whatever he wants with the ball. Against a good goalkeeper it was an incredible finish.

“You have to go back to when we won with 98 points, review the videos, you will see the same player like this right now, “Guardiola added.

Manchester City have shown great consistency in the last few matches. They have won three consecutive matches by a scoreline of 2-1. Starting from their 2-1 win against Paris Saint Germain in the UEFA Champions League followed by a win against West Ham United by the same scoreline. While they backed it up with another 2-1 win away from home at Aston Villa.

Guardiola also lauded Bernardo Silva and his entire team’s efforts as it is not easy to come to Villa Park and win against an Aston Villa side led by Steven Gerrard.

“To come here against this opposition, I was really impressed with who they are, and to be able to beat them is an incredible step for us,” the Spanish tactician highlighted.

Guardiola feels it is not about being at the top of the Premier League points table but the important part is the way they are performing. He points out how they are just a point away from the summit after a very tough part of the league.

“The importance is being there [at the top]. We’ve had an incredibly tough first part of the league, we are there one point behind. The important thing is the way we are performing, the way we are performing is a high level,” Guardiola concluded.