It was a claim Silva said he would not have made should his side have suffered defeat at the Emirates Stadium, but he could not help pointing out a key difference between the two sides’ preparations which he felt was “not right”.
Arsenal and City are well-versed with the rigours of the European-domestic calendar, with both clubs regular names in recent UEFA Champions League seasons.
Arsenal had two extra days’ rest ahead of Sunday’s Premier League tie with City, who had to wait until Thursday to face Napoli in their Champions League opener.
Silva did not necessarily take issue with the disparity of rest days between the two teams, but argued City’s turnaround was just not enough in order to maintain their standards.
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Guardiola says he doesn’t care about results, identifies trait his side ‘lost’ last season
Video credit: SNTV
“But the reality is we cannot come to one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage in terms of rest. It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right. It cannot happen.
“I wasn’t feeling in a perfect condition to play like this and people who have not played at the highest level don’t know how it feels to play a game like this. You need to be at your best condition.
“We saw (Abdukodir) Khusanov getting injured because these games demand a lot.
“I felt the difference in the first half. If you play at the highest level you know that two days (of rest) playing against one of the best teams in the league, away, with the travel… you need at least one more day to recover.
“It doesn’t matter if Arsenal had four, five or six days, just give us one more day and then you make it an even game.”
City took the lead on nine minutes as Erling Haaland scored his sixth Premier League goal of the season, and in an uncharacteristic display, Pep Guardiola’s team had very little of the ball throughout the encounter.
They stood firm in their one-goal advantage until the third minute of stoppage-time, when Gabriel Martinelli latched onto Eberechi Eze’s ball over the top and lofted beyond the advanced Gianluigi Donnarumma to snatch a point.
Silva said modern-day players are capable of standing up to the busy schedule, but asserted extra care must be taken around the significant fixtures between fellow title hopefuls.
“We don’t mind playing every three or four days and we don’t mind playing 60 games (in a season) because we are used to that,” Silva said. “But what we ask for is common sense because this is one of the biggest games of the season.
“And it is not about us. I don’t think that they are trying to make us lose a game. It could happen to Arsenal or Liverpool in a few months. But when you are playing an Arsenal v City or City v Liverpool or Liverpool v Arsenal, you need to have a bit of common sense, an understanding of these situations.
“Even if we were in better physical conditions, it would have been a very difficult game. We can lose any game in good conditions or bad conditions but we need the respect and the common sense to be at the same level to compete.”
The draw left City ninth in the Premier League table, having accumulated seven points from their opening five matches. Arsenal, meanwhile, are second, five points off leaders and reigning champions Liverpool who have won five from five to start the domestic campaign.
