Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has stressed the importance of Bernardo Silva to his side.

The attacking midfielder came on in the 65th minute of their 2-0 win over Newcastle United and promptly scored the second goal for his team.

While Silva has been in and out of the side this season, Guardiola is a huge admirer and knows the qualities the Portuguese offers.

Post-game, he said: “Bernardo has never been a top, top scorer or top assists but he helps us to play better.

“If you want statistics, you can go to big data and write a big article about that.

“But there are some things that people don't come to in the data. It's something that is unique. And Bernardo is unique.

“To make us, all of us, play better, be aggressive and play our rhythm that we need to play better.

“The game, in some moments, is so quick, so quick, so quick. Sometimes it is necessary but sometimes it is not.

“Bernardo helps us to play in a different pause to have to make the explosion. He is unique. Bernardo is unique in the world in doing this."