There have been more iconic moments in Bernardo Silva’s time at Manchester City. The open-mouthed euphoria of scoring two goals against Real Madrid last year is the most important thing. For City fans, it comes close to how he clutched a Styrofoam coffee cup during a Liverpool guard of honor in an act of disrespect.
More iconic but none more redemptive than Wembley. When he finally leaves, those behind that goal will remember his heart beating hard for the badge to take City to another FA Cup final. Silva is one of those rarities: at the same time a sensational footballer and a cult hero.
Silva barely slept a wink Wednesday night. And not just for baby Carlota.
Visions of Andriy Lunin gratefully catching his penalty, again and again, the defining image of City’s shootout defeat to Real almost a year after Silva’s climactic night in blue.
“Thursday night I slept a little better,” he said. The pain doesn’t go away that quickly, although Saturday certainly helped.
Bernardo Silva’s late goal against Chelsea took Manchester City to the FA Cup final
He took away the pain of his missed penalty against Real Madrid on Wednesday with a late goal
It was a moment of redemption for the midfielder, who ran to celebrate with the club’s fans.
While Silva might have needed to score the winning goal for himself, he certainly didn’t need it for his teammates or his coach.
Everyone at City knows how much the Portuguese has sacrificed so that a club has enjoyed him for seven seasons, much more than he intended or even wanted.
Silva’s problem over the years, when he asked to leave, is that he has become too valuable. Too valuable.
The utility work has been done too well. The club that says any player can seek pastures new for the right price has bent its own rules for him. Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have never threatened to bid close to City’s high asking price.
A buyout clause in his latest contract changes the outlook heading into the summer and it remains to be seen whether those figures are achievable for interested parties, one of whom is likely to be former club Benfica, where Silva hopes to finish his career.
In any case, Silva’s City farewell will be as heartfelt as that of any of those who came before him and what cannot be denied is how much Silva has given to Guardiola, who has always been enormously grateful.
When Silva leaves Manchester City, he will be remembered as an outstanding player and a cult hero.
Silva was distraught after failing to convert a penalty in the midweek European quarter-finals.
He also revealed why he decided to hit the ball in the center of the goal, which was gratefully caught by Andriy Lunin.
It happened again this weekend. Silva felt his right hamstring and calf in the first quarter of the semi-final and, truth be told, it was considerably below his best all day. He kept going, he kept running.
“I wasn’t good at all,” he said, echoing Guardiola’s complaints about the schedule.
‘It’s too much. Saturday was too much. It wasn’t even because the FA didn’t give us the chance to recover. It seems like they don’t care because we’ve said it many times.
‘This team is like a family, like brothers because of the way we support each other when someone fails. The guys were amazing with me this week. And yes, we stick together and go for it. “Now we have the FA Cup and the Premier League left and we will do everything we can to win those titles.”
Silva revived the penalty and suggested that he had not made up his mind until seeing Julián Álvarez’s first penalty.
“Basically I had two options, I had one of the sides or the middle in mind, I was waiting,” he added.
What cannot be denied is how much Silva has given to Pep Guardiola, who has always been very grateful.
Silva said his teammates were very supportive of him this week after the penalty
‘I wanted it to be the second or third penalty to see the goalkeeper’s reaction to the first penalties.
“And he moved early, that’s why I thought the middle was good because in moments of pressure goalkeepers move 99 percent of the time, but he decided not to.”
Fortunately for him, Djordje Petrovic also stayed rooted and Silva got the save.