David Silva compared to Xavi and Andres Iniesta by Pep Guardiola after producing Man City masterclass

Pep Guardiola hailed David Silva after Manchester City’s midfield magician marked his 300^th appearance for the club by orchestrating a much-needed defeat of relegation-threatened Hull.

City snapped a run of four matches without a win with Silva doing what he has done on a consistently brilliant basis across seven years at the Etihad.

Wearing the captain’s armband, the Spanish maestro, once again ran the game, played a pivotal role in all three goals and, job done, left to a standing ovation 18 minutes from time.

There can be little higher praise in the Guardiola lexicon than to compare a player to those Barcelona midfield titans Andres Iniesta and Xavi but the City manager – and former Camp Nou coach – was reaching for those very superlatives.

“When I say I’m a lucky guy it’s because I was with Xavi, Iniesta and now Silva.  All three are outstanding players,” said Guardiola, who then revealed he had been urged to sign Silva, then at Valencia, for Barcelona.