Bernardo Silva has revealed the truth about whether or not he meant to shoot when he chipped the West Ham goalkeeper on Saturday night.
Manchester City were unable to defeat West Ham at the weekend, but Bernardo Silva did his part in the first half.
The midfield maestro found himself on the flank when he chipped the ball over Mads Hermansen’s head, handing Man City the lead.
There has been a lot of debate about whether Silva meant to shoot or cross the ball and he has now revealed what he really intended to do.
Bernardo Silva’s goal was an accident
Based on the direction Silva was looking, it seemed like he did intend to shoot, as his eyes appeared to be focused on where West Ham’s shot-stopper was standing.
However, the Portuguese international has come clean, admitting that he actually intended to play the ball into the penalty area.
Appearing in Pep Guardiola’s pre-match press conference for the Real Madrid game, Silva was asked if he meant to score and he replied: “No, I don’t want to lie. I wanted to cross to [Erling] Haaland.”
Man City could use a bit of luck against Real Madrid
So there we have it, Silva’s goal was actually a stroke of luck. Still, that does not change the fact it was still a good strike, even if it was not intentional.
Man City could do with some more of that luck against Real Madrid on Tuesday, although when asked about this, Silva said he does not believe in luck.
He said: “It is difficult for me to answer because I don’t believe a lot in luck. The reason why throughout the years we didn’t be more successful in this competition, maybe a bit but it is never just luck. There are little details you need to get better.
“In the league the best team wins 95 per cent of the time, in the Champions League not necessarily. It is about how do you deal with emotions. That is not luck. I do believe we need to really well.”
Man City will need to improve in those little details Silva has mentioned, because unless they can recover from a three-goal, their Champions League campaign is over.
