Arsenal supporters were left furious after watching Premier League title rivals Manchester City beat Brentford on Saturday evening
20:34, 09 May 2026
Bernardo Silva looks on
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Bernardo Silva appeared fortunate not to be sent off against Brentford (Image: Getty Images)
Arsenal fans have been left gobsmacked after Manchester City star Bernardo Silva escaped a red card against Brentford on Saturday. Pep Guardiola's side beat the Bees 3-0 to move just two points behind Mikel Arteta's men.
The Gunners could go five points clear again if they win at West Ham United on Sunday (4:30pm). But they will have hoped to pull further clear after City's game against European hopefuls Brentford at the Etihad Stadium, before goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush sealed all three points for Guardiola's men.
And Arsenal fans have been left further frustrated at an incident in the first half involving Silva. The Portuguese playmaker was scrapping in the box and took issue after he was crowded out near the touchline.
The 31-year-old, who will leave City this summer, fell over under pressure from defender Nathan Collins and appeared to strike the back of his leg. Collins held his hands up to protest his innocence as Silva sprang to his feet and continued to confront him, before being pulled away by Nico O’Reilly.
VAR had a brief look at the incident but soon deemed the blow insufficient to warrant a red card and did not send referee Michael Salisbury to the monitor.
Bernardo Silva punch
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Bernardo Silva's lash out was caught by the TV cameras
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Gunners supporters have since displayed their fury on social media platform X.
"Is punching allowed now?" one user asked. "There’s no way an Arsenal player gets away with that. We’d have every pundit in the country saying he was stupid and deserved a red," another claimed.
Another said: "If that was Arsenal any player within a 20m radius would have been sent off."
Erling Haaland of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Brentford
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Manchester City beat Brentford at the Etihad to keep the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the Premier League(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
Another fan added: "I don’t want to see any City fans complaining about Gabriel’s non-red card on Haaland.. Silva has struck out with a fist and only received a yellow."
Arsenal know that the title remains in their hands with three wins from their final three games enough to seal a first league crown since 2004.
And Arteta has spoken in his pre-match press conference on Friday about how previous experiences can help his team after three consecutive runners-up finishes.
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He said: "I think there is something that is related to your intuition.
"What the game is going to require, the state of the players, the way you can imagine the game and where the players can have the most impact. And then you can get it right or wrong, you never know.
"But if you do what you feel, at least you have the certainty that you've done the preparation, you've done the thinking, and when it comes time to deliver, that's something else."