Hargreaves and Joe Cole back David Silva's claim that he scored City's 2nd goal

Confusion surrounding who scored Manchester City's second goal in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa has been cleared up by the Premier League's Goal Accreditation Panel, who have awarded the strike to David Silva.

However, after the goal was originally awarded to Kevin de Bryune by VAR, pundits were left debating who got the final touch and whether the goal should have ultimately stood.

At first glance, De Bruyne's in-swinging cross appeared to have evaded everyone before nestling into Tom Heaton's net while replays suggested that Silva may have got the faintest of touches in the box.

If VAR deemed that Silva was the man to get the final touch, then the goal wouldn't have counted due to Raheem Sterling interfering the goalkeeper's line of sight from an offside position.

Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves were in agreement that it was the Spaniard's goal.

Cole said on BT Sport after the game: 'He definitely touches it. It's marginal but he's touched it.'

Hargreaves echoed Cole's comments: 'David Silva's said it's touched his studs, ever, ever so slightly. David's not that type [of player] by the way. He would never claim something that didn't touch him.

'I don't think he's trying to get headlines, I've never seen him like that. So if he's said he's touched it, then he's touched it. Even if it's fractional.'

Former official Peter Walton was asked for clarification on the matter, to which he revealed that Silva was never considered as the goalscorer by VAR.

Walton added: 'Stockley Park have said that they haven’t adjudicated on the fact that Silva touched the ball. They are the people that count and they said he hasn't touched the ball.'

When asked whether the goal should've stood if it did in fact touch Silva, Walton continued: 'If the ball touched Silva, we can clearly see that Sterling is in front of the forwards, but not only is he in front of the forwards, but he's interfering with the line of sight of the goalkeeper as he tries to save the ball. So that goal would've been disallowed.'

After the game, the Premier League's dubious goal committee distanced themselves from the video assistant referee after confirming Silva's strike.

They tweeted: 'After review, the Goal Accreditation Panel have awarded Man City’s second goal to David Silva. The Goal Accreditation Panel is an independent entity which has no affiliation with VAR.'

The win means the gap between City and Liverpool is just three points, with Jurgen Klopp's men in action against Tottenham on Sunday.