"It is a bad decision and everyone saw it" - Manchester City star Bernardo Silva calls out referee error in 3-3 draw against Tottenham

Manchester City star Bernardo Silva has called out a referee error that occurred during the 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League yesterday (December 3).

The Portuguese insists referee Simon Hooper was wrong to have called play back to award a free-kick, which denied Jack Grealish the opportunity to bag the winner for the Cityzens after going through on goal in the closing minutes.

The Portuguese midfielder said after the game (as quoted by Daily Mail):

"It is a bad decision and everyone saw it. But at the end we are all humans. The referee probably is the first one to know it was a very, very bad decision because he (Grealish) was one on one with the keeper and it could have given us the three points. It is a tough one to take, but in the end it is what it is, it's football, and sometimes people make mistakes."

Manchester City's clash with Tottenham lived up to its billing, as both sides produced a classic performance at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The game sprung to life immediately in the sixth minute when Son Heung-Min opened the scoring for the Londoners before finding his name on the other side of the scoresheet three minutes later, thanks to his own goal in the 9th minute.

Phil Foden struck before halftime to ensure Pep Guardiola's men had a 2-1 lead heading into the break, but Spurs restored parity via a Giovanni Lo Celso strike after the restart.

Jack Grealish thought he had secured the three points for Manchester City with his 74th-minute strike. However, a 90th-minute response from Dejan Kulusevski ensured Tottenham fought till the death.

The controversial moment of the game came in injury time. Erling Haaland shrugged off a tough challenge from Emerson Royale to set Grealish one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, referee Simon Hooper pulled play back and awarded City a free-kick instead, thereby denying them a late winner.

As mentioned earlier, Bernardo Silva stated that it was a bad decision from the referee. The Portuguese admitted that the outcome was tough to take but refused to go in too hard on the official.

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Manchester City going through a rough patch in the Premier League

The 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday means that Manchester City are now winless in their last three league games. Prior to encountering Spurs at the weekend, the Cityzens had 1-1 and 4-4 draws against Liverpool and Chelsea, respectively.

Following these unfavorable results, Pep Guardiola's men have now conceded their position at the top of the table to Arsenal and are currently ranked third in the table with 30 points—one point behind second-placed Liverpool and three behind the Gunners.

Up next, the Cityzens will take on Aston Villa in the English top flight this Wednesday before locking horns with Luton Town at the weekend. It remains to be seen if they can return to winning ways and get back on track in their mission to defend the title this season.