Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 6y

Bernardo Silva enjoying life at Man City despite lack of playing time

Bernardo Silva is prepared to wait for his opportunity after spending much of his early Manchester City career on the substitutes' bench.

Silva, 23, made just his second Premier League start of the season in Saturday's 3-0 win over Burnley since his £43 million move from Monaco in the summer.

City have won their last 11 games in all competitions to top the the Premier League and their Champions League group and the Portugal international says he just has to be ready when his chance arrives.

"I have had to be very patient. There are a lot of quality players in this team and it's not easy to play," he told reporters.

"All the players who have played over the last month or two have been scoring a lot of goals, the team is in form, so you have to be patient and help the team as much as we can in the minutes we have.

"You learn a lot playing with these players, with this staff and coach, and to play in this amazing stadium -- it feels great."

Silva was late joining up with the squad after spending the summer with Portugal at the Confederations Cup in Russia.

And he says he is still getting used to playing with new teammates as well as a different style of play under Pep Guardiola.

"When you arrive a little bit late you need more time to get to the intensity," he added.

"Also when you arrive at a new club you need to learn new things -- the way the team plays.

"But with all the support I got it has been much easier for me, and I feel very good here."

Silva won a controversial penalty for Sergio Aguero's opener in the win over Burnley. And with Manchester United surprisingly losing at newly promoted Huddersfield Town, City opened up a five-point gap at the top of the table.

"It feels great to be part of this team. Once again we played well, got the three points and deserved the win," he said.

"We will try to keep it going and keep in first position. Manchester United lost points as well, so we are already five points ahead. We just have to keep doing our job.

"It's only the beginning, but it's always good when your opponents don't win. We have to stay focussed on our games, but it's a good day for us.

"You cannot always win 7-0 or 7-2, or 6-1 or 5-0. Some games are more complicated than others, and the most important thing is to win the three points and then keep winning, winning, winning.

"When you get used to winning, everything is much easier -- the atmosphere, everything goes better and that's what we are trying to do."

Meanwhile, the Football Association announced Silva will not be retrospectively punished for diving after winning the penalty on Saturday.

Silva angered Clarets players when he went down under a challenge from goalkeeper Nick Pope to win City a first-half spot-kick in the match.

However, in a tweet published on Monday, an FA spokesperson said: "Manchester City's Bernardo Silva faces no further action for alleged simulation against Burnley FC on 21/10/17 after an FA panel review."

The FA has introduced a new offence this season for "successful deception of a match official" and last week Carlisle's Shaun Miller became the first player in English football to be punished under these terms.

In these instances a three-man panel of a former official, manager and player, review video evidence to determine if the player was guilty of simulation, with the punishment a two-match ban if they all agree.

Silva has avoided becoming the first in the top flight to earn such a suspension for an incident which his manager Pep Guardiola and Burnley boss Sean Dyche disagreed on.

"It's a penalty, I saw it," Guardiola said after the game. "He touched - the goalkeeper - the right foot of Bernardo."

While Dyche agreed there was contact, he thought Silva made the most of it.

"There is contact," he said.

"I don't know how the ref sees it because it is that instant, it's minimal and to get that high off the floor with your arms above your head is almost a skill in itself. I'm quite impressed by how far he travelled. If I kicked my kid in the garden I don't think he'd fall like that.

"The deciding factor is there is contact, but I don't think there is enough contact to fall in that fashion."

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