Bernardo Silva: Decisions against Man City can make big difference in title race

Bernardo Silva believes Manchester City are repeatedly on the wrong end of 50-50 decisions after they dropped two crucial points in the title race on Wednesday.

City fell seven points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal as relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest twice came from behind to snatch an unlikely 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

The hosts were frustrated not to have been awarded a penalty when they led 2-1 as Erling Haaland went down after knocking the ball past opposition goalkeeper Matz Sels.

The incident was checked and cleared by VAR, but City captain Silva felt it was the wrong decision.

The Portuguese said: “So, if Erling is running and the goalkeeper just crashes into him, what can he do, just disappear?

“I just think that all the 50-50s this season have gone against us – all of them, and it’s quite frustrating because, at the end, it makes a big difference in the title race.”

City still have a game in hand and a meeting with the Gunners to come, but Silva acknowledged the margin for error is shrinking.

“It definitely puts us in a worse position,” he said. “Still nine games to go, which is a long way, but we’re not happy.

“We wanted to be closer to put a bit more pressure on them. This feels a bit frustrating and worse for us.”

Silva accepted that, ultimately, City had only themselves to blame for the position.

The skipper said: “It’s on us that we didn’t win, that we conceded in the last minute against Chelsea, that we didn’t win against Brighton at home, that we were winning 2-0 against Tottenham away and we let them come back into that game. That’s all on us.”

Antoine Semenyo put City in command when he volleyed his fifth goal in eight appearances since his move from Bournemouth, but Morgan Gibbs-White replied with a brilliant backheel.

Rodri headed City back in front just after the hour, but Forest rallied again and Elliot Anderson rescued the visitors with a superb second equaliser.

City’s attention quickly turns to Saturday’s FA Cup clash at Newcastle and their Champions League tie with Real Madrid, while the Carabao Cup final is also coming into view.

Silva said: “In these few weeks we’re not going to win a lot (of trophies), but we can lose a lot.

“This month can keep us alive to fight for the competitions until the end or it can put us down and we just go for one or two competitions. Hopefully, we will still be in all four of them in a month’s time.”

Forest’s mood was different as Anderson’s goal kept them outside the bottom three on goal difference, but manager Vitor Pereira remained calm.

He said: “I believe we need to focus in the present, on the game we are playing, not to look to the future.

“If you lose your focus thinking about what might happen, this is a mistake. Just focus on the next game.”