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Rob Dawson, Correspondent
Bernardo Silva has said he “didn’t sleep” after his penalty miss against Real Madrid but credited the “unbelievable” support of his Manchester City teammates as helping him through.
Silva bounced back from his miss in the shootout which contributed to City’s Champions League exit on Wednesday by scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday.
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He said the days in-between were “tough” but his winner at Wembley has kept Pep Guardiola’s side on course for a second successive Premier League and FA Cup double.
“It was a frustrating night for me [on Wednesday],” Silva said. “[And a] frustrating week for me personally, for the whole team, because we wanted to go after another historic season and we can still go for it, but it was a big disappointment to get knocked out of the Champions League.
“First night, I didn’t sleep much, second night, you sleep a bit better, the third night you sleep almost the whole night, but it is what it is.”
Silva went on to explain what was going through his head as he chipped his penalty down the middle only for Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to stand still and gather the shot with relative ease.
“So basically, I had two options,” he said. “I had in my mind one of the sides, I’m not going to tell you which, and the middle. I was waiting, I wanted to be the second or the third penalty to see the reaction from the keeper in the first or the first two penalties.
“And he moved early, that’s why I thought the middle was good because [in] moments of pressure the keepers, 99% of the time, they move but he chose not to move and fair play to him, well done. It is what it is.”
Despite the disappointment against Real Madrid, Silva was picked to start against Chelsea and Guardiola’s decision paid off when the Portugal international arrived at the back post to score from Kevin De Bruyne’s cross in the 84th minute.
“It’s like a family, like brothers, the way we support each other when someone misses,” Silva said. “It’s unbelievable and the guys were unbelievable with me this week. And yeah, we stick together and we go for it. Now we have the FA Cup and the Premier League to go for we’re going to do our best to win those titles.”