Silva claimed "only one team came to play football" after Arsenal managed to avoid defeat against City on Sunday, although they were seconds away from claiming all three points. The Gunners were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half when Leandro Trossard was sent off, and City spent the second period camped inside Arsenal's half and trying to find a way through.

John Stones crushed Arsenal hearts when he steered the ball home from close range in the eighth minute of injury time. It was hardly a surprise that Arteta decided to prioritise defence after Trossard's red - Ben White replaced Bukayo Saka at half-time in a clear sign of Arsenal's approach - but Silva isn't impressed by what he saw from City's title rivals.

"There was only one team that came to play football," Silva told TNT Brazil. "The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately. But at the end we got a draw, the best we could get considering the context of the last moments of the match. We're not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally I'm happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I'm glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match."

Silva also took aim at Arsenal's trophy record, mocking the north London side for failing to win the Premier League or Champions League in recent times.

When asked to compare their battles against Arsenal with their Liverpool rivalry, the Portuguese playmaker replied: "The difference? I don't know. Maybe that Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven't. That Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven't. Liverpool always faced us face to face to try to win the games, so by this perspective the games against Arsenal haven't been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool. So yes, maybe a different rivalry."

Michael Oliver left both Man City and Arsenal upset with his performance. The referee showed Arsenal's Trossard a second yellow card for kicking the ball away, despite Jeremy Doku appearing to avoid punishment for doing the same thing earlier in the first half, and City were upset that Kyle Walker was pulled out of position by Oliver before Arsenal's first goal.

Silva added: "It all started in the very first second. In the first action we realised what was going to happen. We had a player injured [Rodri] after they sent him to the ground twice in 10 minutes. We had a goal conceded after the referee called our captain and then didn't allow him to recover his position. The second goal is already their usual block to our 'keeper allowed by the referee.

"And then the referee allowed a sequence of time-wasting events. The thing that bothers me the most is having a lot of meetings with the FA at the beginning of each season. They tell us they will control this kind of situation and will stop them, but at the end it doesn't have any worth. They say a lot but nothing happens."

Man City host Watford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but they will almost certainly be without Rodri after the Spaniard suffered an injury against Arsenal. The Gunners face Bolton a day later.