Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne have revealed how Manchester City tweaked their tactics as they thumped Premier League title rivals Arsenal 4-1 on Wednesday.
The emphatic victory leaves City in the driving seat to retain their title, having cut Arsenal's lead at the top of the table to just two points with Pep Guardiola's side having two games in hand. Speaking after the game, Silva explained the way Arsenal set up was "perfect" for City as it offered De Bruyne and Erling Haaland space to run into and exploit.
And they did just that, with the pair directly involved in all four of City's goals. "We knew that they could come [playing] man-to-man, and we tried to stretch them as much as possible because if they play man-to-man against us they have to deal with Kevin and Erling up front," Silva explained.
"It's never going to be easy in that spot. This team was perfect for Kevin because they [defended] man-to-man and gave space to Kevin and Erling to run into. When you give them this kind of space, they are so difficult to defend [against].
"Two beasts running – Kevin with the passes, Erling with the scoring. Today was the opposite. They did it perfectly, they created lots of chances. We could have scored even more."
"Today we tried to leave them alone [upfield], give them as much space as possible to run and create chances and they did it perfectly. We changed the way we play because we never had this kind of player up front," he continued.
"The manager also changed the build-up a little bit from the past years so maybe it took us a bit of time to get used to it." Silva's comments were echoed by De Bruyne, who added that Guardiola wanted to counter Arsenal's pressing and man-to-man marking system.
"The way that Arsenal press the opposition is top, it's class," De Bruyne told Peacock. "It's almost impossible to play from the back, especially when its a goal kick - it's like a set piece, and we know we had to play longer today and we tried a couple of things in training.
"I tried to get a little bit deeper and then tried to run off Erling when he kept the ball, and I think we found that a couple of times. I think in the first half we created some chances this way, and it was important to set the tone.
"Normally we play with two number eights and I think he [Guardiola] wanted a little bit more control because of the way they press. So Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] would be a double six and I had to choose more the moments, depending on who presses out of Xhaka and Partey - if Partey was pressing I would try to go on his back and the other way round, and it was difficult for [Rob] Holding and Gabriel.
"[They had to decide] do they have to go with me or are they staying with Erling. I couldn't find the moments in the first half, and obviously they switched a little bit in the second half, but I was a little more free today."
