Manchester City attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva says his team used their two main attacking threats, Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, to cut Arsenal’s man-marking system to shreds.

The pair ran riot on Wednesday night and Silva claims it was a deliberate tactical ploy to give them the freedom necessary to exploit the Gunners’ defensive setup:

“We knew that they could come [playing] man-to-man, and we tried to stretch them as much as possible because if they play man-to-man against us they have to deal with Kevin [De Bruyne] and Erling [Haaland] up front. It’s never going to be easy in that spot. This team was perfect for Kevin because they [defended] man-to-man and gave space to Kevin and Erling to run into.”

Manager Pep Guardiola is often criticised for overthinking when it comes to the tactics he employs but he rarely gets the credit when one of his changes comes off.

His decision to utilise Haaland and De Bruyne’s individual talents and cause havoc in between Arsenal’s midfield and defence was masterful. Things really couldn’t have gone any better.

De Bruyne’s opening goal was a clear demonstration of how to take advantage of a man-to-man marking scheme, as he glided past his marker and scored from long range. There were numerous other examples in the 90 minutes too, and City fully deserved to win 4-1.