He’s top of the league, he’s top of the league, Raheem Sterling, he’s top of the league. The most maligned footballer in English football history, pretty much stuck two fingers up to the footballing world yesterday with an outstanding performance, claiming three assists and two goals.
His ten-star performance still didn’t quite satisfy his manager, Pep Guardiola, but it finally put to bed the claims of a variety of sad broadcasters that Sterling’s football isn’t up to scratch. In this match he knew precisely when to stick and precisely when to twist, leading Mark Hughes Saints a merry dance all afternoon.
Both his goals were well taken and his assists were pinpoint.
With FC Coachbusters of Shamfield failing to beat the Gooners at the Ashburton Grove Bottling Factory, City needed a win to put some points daylight between themselves and the title pretenders, Liverpool and Chelsea. And it took them seconds rather than minutes to accomplish their mission. Just over 300 seconds. Clever play along the left saw David Silva carve open the Saints defence and Sane’s low drive, destination Sterling, was placed into his own net by Hoedt. The rampage had begun.
In recent weeks profligacy had become City’s complacency, but not today. Of eight shots on target six found the target as the Blues catapulted themselves to the head of the table, almost treating their opponents with disdain.
David Silva and Sane weighed in with a goal apiece but the special one was that of Sergio Aguero whose 150th Premier League goal was delivered on a plate by the inevitable Sterling.
Last season we saw that once City hit the pinnacle, they stayed there. This season Liverpool and Chelsea appear to be a threat, but if City can take points off them later in the season and of course beat FC United of Stretford next weekend, it will be difficult to see how the Blues can be overhauled.
The Coachbusters will be hoping for a reversal of fortunes at the weekend with United trying to takes points off City and them whacking Fulham. We’ll have to wait and see. Everyone has tricky Champions League ties in midweek, no more so than the Strefordians visit to Torino where Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo await them. City will want to beat Shakhtar and then United and keep their noses in front in the title race. It will be an interesting week.