THE NOTEBOOK: Bernardo Silva was EVERYWHERE for Man City

THE NOTEBOOK: Bernardo Silva shows he’s the ultimate jack of all trades as Man City win with just 36.4% possession, while Mikel Arteta’s rare line-up tweak backfires and Anthony Taylor weathers VAR storm

• Manchester City claimed spoils with 3-1 victory against Arsenal at the Emirates 
• Bernardo Silva forgot his position at kick-off and trotted out to left-back
• At 36.4%, Man City had their lowest amount of possession this season

Arsenal and Manchester City played out a brilliant, enthralling game on Wednesday night that lived up to all expectations

The Premier League title contenders put on a show in a full-blooded contest, with the visitors taking the spoils, winning 3-1 and landing a major blow in the title race. 

Pep Guardiola’s side drew first blood when Kevin de Bruyne latched onto a weak Takehiro Tomiyasu pass back, lobbing Aaron Ramsdale. But the Gunners struck back from the spot through Bukayo Saka. 

Jack Grealish then fired City ahead in the second half before Erling Haaland put the game to bed. 

Here, Sportsmail’s Jack Gaughan takes a look at some of the things you may have missed from the Emirates.

Jack Grealish scored for Manchester City to give them the lead in the second half 

SILVA’S THE ULTIMATE JACK OF ALL TRADES 

Bernardo Silva, jack of all trades for Manchester City, had a bit of an uncertain start — before a ball had even been kicked. 

The little Portuguese’s role was a combination of building up alongside Rodri in midfield then filling in at left back to double up on Bukayo Saka when out of possession.   

Hard work and something which relies on real intelligence. Silva is so well equipped to perform those two tasks, though forgot where he was at kick-off. He trotted to left back, blissfully unaware Erling Haaland was about to get the game started. Wrong position, and Nathan Ake told him to move into the middle. Oops. It feeds into Pep Guardiola’s desire to have as many midfielders on the field as possible and Silva’s no stranger to sacrificing himself for the team. 

And towards the end he had the chance to enjoy himself from the right wing – his natural position way back when – and contributed hugely to this victory.

Bernardo Silva proved his versatility for Manchester City again on Wednesday night

The heat map showed all the different areas on the pitch Silva found himself 

CITY RISKED RAIL TRAVEL 

Say what you want about City but they are definitely risk takers. Fancy braving an Avanti train on the day of a game. 

They could easily have been staring at Manchester Piccadilly’s departures board until kick-off. 

Perhaps the potential for chaos on the railways is why they set off mid-morning and spent the afternoon in a London hotel. 

CITY FED OFF SCRAPS 

Two things you don’t often see: a City player booked for timewasting (Ederson, before the break) and City losing a possession battle. 

At 36.4%, it was their lowest all season — the next being 48.8% against Brighton. It was also their lowest in a league game since losing 1-0 at Arsenal in April 2012 — when the only goal was scored by… Mikel Arteta.

ARTETA TWISTS, FOR ONCE 

Sod’s law for Arteta. He is the manager to make the fewest changes to his starting XI this season and had picked the same team since Boxing Day, and the day he opts for a tweak it backfires. 

Takehiro Tomiyasu was preferred to Ben White and it was his error that allowed Kevin De Bruyne to score the opener. 

Takehiro Tomiyasu gave the ball away with a weak back pass for the City opener 

TAYLOR WEATHERS THE VAR STORM 

This was always going to be a tough gig for Anthony Taylor, irrespective of the weekend’s events here against Brentford. 

Particularly given the characters in the dugouts either side of fourth official Darren England. 

No shrinking violets to be found. Beforehand, Guardiola referenced ‘the fans, the referee’ as possible problems to face and by that he meant that the white-hot atmosphere, and feeling of fury after the VAR farce on Saturday, would have an impact. It did. Howls at every tackle, baying for fouls — such as when Silva caught Saka a couple of times. Undoubtedly the crowd buoyed Arsenal, who went full throttle. 

Taylor had to remain strong in not refereeing the occasion, but City were incensed by the decision to give Arsenal a penalty when Ederson barged into Eddie Nketiah. Arsenal were angry Ederson did not see a second yellow. That’s the game.

Anthony Taylor came under enormous pressure in the biggest game of the season

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