BERNARDO SILVA IS keen for Vincent Kompany to remain his team-mate for a “few more years” after the Belgian defender’s brilliant strike saw Manchester City move closer to retaining the Premier League title.
Kompany was City’s unlikely hero in the 1-0 victory over Leicester City on Monday, his long-range effort finding the net to move City back above Liverpool at the top of the table with only one game to go.
It was the 33-year-old’s first Premier League goal from outside the box and raised the possibility of him ending the campaign as a league champion for the fourth time in his City career.
Kompany, who has battled calf problems in recent years, is out of contract at the end of the season, with Pep Guardiola saying the club had spoken to him about an extension, which is something Silva is desperate to happen.
“He’s a man for the big games,” Silva said. “Whenever you need him, he’s always there.
He doesn’t feel the pressure. It doesn’t matter to him – he likes the pressure, embraces it, and he gets even better for that.
“He is one of the biggest players this club has ever seen and I hope he can stay with us a few more years, of course. He’s our captain and so important for us.
If anyone deserves that goal, it’s him. The way he works, what he means for the dressing room and the fans.
“It’s not normal for a centre-back to arrive at that point and strike that ball, so it’s a moment you will remember.
“But it won’t mean anything if we don’t win the title, so we have to win on Sunday to make this goal mean something.”
City’s victory lifted them to 95 points, a tally that would have been good enough to win the title in most seasons, but Liverpool have matched their relentless pace and are just a point behind having only lost once in the league all season.
Silva, who could end up winning a domestic treble if City can win the Premier League and then go on to beat Watford in the FA Cup final, feels that the two teams have brought the best out of each other by continually winning and forcing the other to respond.
“Both teams have been amazing this season, especially in the Premier League,” he added.
If you look at the points, we have 95 and they have 94 - it’s unbelievable. In a normal season both teams would win the Premier League.
“The pressure is high for both teams - we put it on them, and they put it on us. They make us better and we make them better because we both know we need to win.
“But it depends on us for the last game [against Brighton].
These players are used to the pressure - season after season we play for all the titles, all the cups. It’s good, it means you are playing for big things. No pressure means you are playing for nothing.
“These are the moments every player wants to live. Two weeks to go, and we want to win two more titles.”
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