Bernardo Silva's brutal Man City verdict speaks volumes after Aston Villa loss

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Bernardo Silva slammed Manchester City's defensive display against Aston Villa and claimed they had been "two seconds late" to every challenge. City suffered a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park following Matty Cash's 19th minute strike to end their nine-game unbeaten run.

Club captain Silva was left particularly unimpressed by what he witnessed, especially regarding their defensive work and pressing game. He also believed the Blues came off second best in the physical battles as they failed to stamp their authority on the match.

Erling Haaland had two attempts that troubled Emiliano Martinez following Cash's opener, but City never truly appeared likely to find an equaliser.

"I would say we played quite well with the ball. Our offensive concepts were quite good. Even if we didn't score we had chances," said Silva.

"We made them defend deep and they struggled in some moments. On the other side of the game we were really bad defensively. Our pressing was really bad, we arrived two seconds late to every duel.

"That was the feeling even though our offensive concepts were quite good, but if the pressing is not good you allow the game to be a transitional game. When our pressing is not good we do not play well.

"Obviously they are a very good team, this is a Champions League team, a team with a lot of quality players. I do believe our defensive concepts were really bad today."

City were furious at the referee's decision to give Villa the corner from which they netted. They believed Matheus Nunes should have been given a free-kick for Lucas Digne's challenge after he had knocked the ball out of play.

"It's a minor decision, it's not like a penalty or a red card that changed the game. The reality is it should've been a foul," Silva said.

"It wasn't and they scored from the corner. That was a bit frustrating for us, but it's football. These small things is not that important. The referee said he thought it was a corner.

"People make mistakes, just say sorry and go on to the next one. Don't be arrogant. Like I say, it was not because of that that we lost the game. It was not about the referee today.

"It's still a long way to go. I don't want to draw too many conclusions. We would love to be at the top but we're not. It's way too early to draw conclusions."

Arsenal added insult to injury for City, as the Gunners won 1-0 against Crystal Palace . Mikel Arteta's team sit top of the table on 22 points after nine games, while Pep Guardiola's side are down in fifth on 16 points.