Bernardo Silva says Manchester City can improve from the stunning performance they put on to beat Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League last-16 first leg.
As soon as Riyad Mahrez's goal was awarded by VAR in the opening minutes, City ran riot in Lisbon and went in 4-0 ahead at the break thanks to a Bernardo stunner, Phil Foden's close-range finish and a deflected effort from Bernardo on the break. Raheem Sterling added a sublime fifth after half time to put City in full control of the tie ahead of Sporting's visit to the Etihad for the second leg.
However, Bernardo was not too pleased with City's first-half performance despite the scoreline, calling the team sloppy, lucky, and not good enough to command such a lead.
"A very good win," he said to BT Sport. "I think in the first half we weren't that good to be winning 4-0, we were a bit sloppy, lost some easy balls to let them counter.
"We were clinical, and you need luck to score that many goals. Very happy to win 5-0 away. Good performance, especially some minutes in the first half and second half. Sometimes you play better than we did the first half and you go in 0-0. You can still improve and we can still do better."
That assessment sums up City under Pep Guardiola, with a record-breaking win still not seen as good enough for a player with two goals in his home city at the stadium of his boyhood club's rivals.
"I'm Portuguese, from the other side of the city because I played 12 years for Benfica," he explained.
"It was special to score in my home town and nice to start with a 5-0 game. It's always extra motivation to come to Lisbon and play an important game. Important win, still a job to do in Manchester, we cannot relax.
"We had to keep going, 3-0 is better than 2-0, and 4-0 is better than 3-0. In the Champions League you cannot relax, if they score the next game you're in trouble."
Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
