Match of the Day pundit Jermaine Jenas has hailed Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva for his performance against Tottenham Hotspur and named Arsenal as the opponent against whom he began to show his true quality this season.
After helping to lift the Premier League title with the rest of Pep Guardiola's squad last year, the Portuguese midfielder has enjoyed a more prominent role in the team this campaign, in part due to injuries to Kevin De Bruyne.
He was named man of the match in a 1-0 win over Spurs at the Etihad to keep City in front in the title race, with a decisive clash with Manchester United next on the horizon which could make or break their bid to retain the title.
Liverpool have been trading the top spot with their rivals in recent weeks only to be pegged back due to the fact that last year's winners have maintained a game in hand. That will be played on Wednesday at Old Trafford.
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Silva made sure that their bid to win back-to-back Premier League titles did not slip in the match preceding that encounter as City faced Spurs for the third time in two weeks after losing to the north Londoners in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jenas singled out his contributions out wide for the hosts at the Etihad and called back to another performance agaisnt a north London opponent back in August.
"Pep said at the start of the season, against Arsenal, that he was going to be a very important player for City this season," he said. "And he's turned out to be exactly that - 32 appearances, the most of any outfield player for City, tells you how important."
On the very first weekend of the season, City beat Arsenal 2-0, with goals from Raheem Sterling and Silva.
In September, Guardiola spoke out about the Portuguese playmaker and his efforts to adapt to the English game.
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"I needed a period to know, to understand a little bit, and everything about the way we wanted to play," he said. "And in the way that we are aggressive without the ball, sometimes we need more time.
"He can play there, because he can fight. He is skinny, small, but he is - wow."
Speaking on Match of the Day, Jenas picked out what made Silva so dangerous against Spurs to earn the man of the match award.
"He was right at it, the bit between his teeth," he said. "He really gave Ben Davies a tough time of it down that right hand side, twisting and turning.
"Ben Davies didn't really want to get close to him. He's got that aura about him now where he commands space. Players don't want to get too close as he embaresses them.
"He was getting between the lines, when you get tight to him he pops it round the corner, he glides by players like they're not even there, he's quicker than he seems and nimble on his feet."
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