Bernardo Silva disagrees with Pep Guardiola over Erling Haaland at Man City

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva spoke about Erling Haaland and the team ahead of their Premier League game with Aston Villa.

Bernardo Silva broke Erling Haaland's goal monopoly at Manchester City, but is more than happy for the No.9 to be the one to fire the team to glory.

Silva scored City's second in a 2-0 win at Villarreal to become the first goalscorer for Pep Guardiola that wasn't called Haaland since the Burnley game last month. City's Norwegian had netted the first to continue an unbelievable scoring record that stretches to 12 straight matches for club and country, with 24 goals this season.

Guardiola had called on his attacking players to score more goals, insisting that the Blues cannot have success if Haaland is not properly supported. However, Silva does not mind the 25-year-old hogging the lion's share of goals as long as the team are successful.

"I don't think that matters a lot," he said. "If other players score, obviously it's nice as well.

"But as long as we win football games, I don't care if Erling scores zero and the other guy scores two each, or if he scores 20 and no one else scores. We want to win football games and that's what we've been doing, so I'm quite happy with that."

City's win extends their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions and they head into Saturday's game with Aston Villa in a much stronger position than they were when they were fortunate to lose 2-1 in the Midlands last December. An eight-point deficit to champions Liverpool three games ago has been overturned with three straight victories and the Blues are gaining confidence and momentum with every game they play.

Silva has led City's charge this season as club captain, and spoke of the target of the team as they aim to peak in the second half of the season.

"A lot of changes from the past two seasons. The players are improving every day, and hopefully in a few months we can be even better than we are now," he said.

"That's the goal. We know that usually this team is always better in the end of the season than in the beginning, and that's the aim.

"If we can stay there on the top until February, March, to fight for titles, then we know what we're able to do. We're happy with the momentum, we're happy that in the Champions League we're in a good position, and in the Premier League we're also in a good position.

"Now we have tough games. We have Aston Villa away, which no one can say is an easy game. Then again in a few weeks the Champions League starts again, and we want this season to qualify in the top eight. We know how important it is to not have those two extra games. But yeah, we're happy with our momentum right now, with the way the team is playing.

"We found a bit more of our rhythm. We found the stability at the back, I think, in my opinion.

"That gives the freedom for the guys at front to play in a different way. I always say that when you're stable at the back, when the team defends properly, and we're now defending quite well, then that's when you can win football games.

"The guys up front can make a difference. That's what we didn't have for a long time last season, and that's what we're getting back to, to having that stability.

"We're happy with the momentum, but still a long way to go. It's just one month that we were quite good. If we want to be successful this season, we need to keep it that way for much longer than just one month."