Bernardo Silva brutally mocks Arsenal for lack of Champions League and Premier League awards

Manchester City's Bernardo Silva has brutally mocked Arsenal for missing two major awards from their trophy cabinet after their 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

The two teams played the best game of the current Premier League season on Sunday afternoon, in 90 minutes marred by referee disputes, VAR confusion, dark football skills and sensational individual brilliance.

Erling Haaland's opening goal inside 10 minutes was cancelled out by Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori, his first goal for the club, before Gabriel Magalhaes put the visitors ahead.

The sending off of Leandro Trossard for a second yellow card just before half-time gave Manchester City plenty of room to attack in the second half, with Arsenal positioned with nine men behind the ball deep in and around their own penalty area.

Ultimately, City only managed to score a single goal in this extremely difficult game of attack and defence. John Stones broke Arsenal's resolve in the eighth minute of added time and ensured the points were shared.

This is probably the first time since the first direct duel between Manchester City and Arsenal for the Premier League title two seasons ago that the battle between Manchester City and Arsenal has become more aggressive and combative.

Speaking to Brazilian television after the 2-2 draw on Sunday afternoon, Manchester City's Bernardo Silva was asked about what he believes to be the biggest differences between his club's encounters with Liverpool in recent title campaigns and now with Arsenal.

“Maybe because Liverpool had already won the Premier League and Arsenal hadn't,” the Portuguese international replied brutally. “Liverpool had also won the Champions League at the time, Arsenal hadn't,” he continued.

“Liverpool have always come at us head-on to win games. From that perspective, our games against Arsenal were not like the games against Liverpool and still are!”

Asked if he thought Sunday afternoon's clash was a “great classic”, Bernardo Silva did not stop attacking Arsenal as a football organisation, saying: “More or less. Only a team came to play football.”

He continued: “The other game was unfortunately at the limit of what was possible and what the referee allowed. But in the end it was a draw. The best we managed was a draw. We are not satisfied, we wanted the three points.”

“We know we could have done better and we are happy with the way we played and the way we entered the game, because we approach every game with the goal of winning.”

Bernardo Silva and Manchester City are likely to face a hostile reception when they travel to the Emirates Stadium this season, but there is plenty to think about until then, and not just in terms of their own Premier League duties.

This week sees the return of the Carabao Cup as Pep Guardiola and his players face the challenge of Watford at the Etihad Stadium, just 49 hours after the conclusion of a physically demanding meeting with Arsenal.

This weekend, Manchester City will travel to the north-east to face Newcastle United, kicking off on Saturday afternoon, in the hope of defending their unbeaten start to the new season.