The Manchester City star somehow failed to convert from little more than two yards out in the Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain.
After Sterling's header hit the crossbar, a City equaliser appeared a foregone conclusion when it landed at the feet of Silva.
The Portuguese forward skewed his effort onto the crossbar and then missed once again on the follow up.
It left Pep Guardiola totally bewildered on the touchline.
Replays suggested Silva was offside, but the flag did not come to his rescue and play continued.
And working on commentary duty for talkSPORT, former City defender Danny Mills could not believe his eyes.
He said: "I'm confused. Speechless. I'm expecting you to start shouting goal, equaliser, one each. I just don't understand how it's not gone in.
"Bernardo Silva is there a yard out, how does he not put this into the net?
"If you get a chance to see this, that is one of the misses of the decade, for a player of his quality."