STERLING STUFF
Raheem’s bravery to clinch glory is testament to his character and confidence
FORGET, for a moment, one of the most remarkable incidents seen in a Wembley cup final.
Forget, because most already have, 120 minutes of football that featured three shots on target – one of which looked suspiciously like a mishit cross.
And concentrate on the winning hit.
The first leg of Manchester City’s unlikely tilt at the quadruple has been completed (Ederson and Walker celebrate, left), thanks to the bottle and technique of Raheem Sterling.
Because that is what this curious game boiled down to.
Sterling against Kepa, the keeper who might even end up having a final named after him for the most bizarre reason. Sterling against Kepa in front of the Chelsea fans, the City player’s recent history with a few of that club’s followers still fresh in the memory.
Sterling against Kepa, who needed to be a hero to even begin to atone for his unforgivable defiance.
He knew it was a defining moment.
Not only that, Sterling must have known what the looks and whispers would be had he missed and Chelsea gone on to emerge victorious from sudden death. Instead, a player who has become a talisman for Pep Guardiola, a player whose confidence swells almost on a weekly basis, smashed home the winning penalty with a precision and power that, for a microsecond, almost silenced Wembley.
If this match will eventually be remembered mainly for Kepa refusing to come off when Maurizio Sarri wanted to replace him with Willy Caballero late in extra-time, one thing is worth noting here. Chelsea could have had Kepa AND Caballero in goal and Sterling’s penalty would still not have been kept out.
Yes, it was only a penalty. Three other City penalty-takers scored, although Kepa should have been able to throw his cap on Sergio Aguero’s effort.
But the pressure multiplies when an outcome can be decisive and, from the walk to the spot to the run-up to the emphatic strike, Sterling never looked like wilting under it. A confident, happy footballer doing a confident, happy thing. And giving
Guardiola’s City another trophy, one that will be savoured in a different way as they got over the line without being at their most beautiful.
In fact, they found a way to win when they were nowhere near their most beautiful.
Which you have to do because unless you are Lionel Messi, no team or individual can provide unremitting excellence.
Kevin De Bruyne is allowed days like these when both the strength and direction of his passing were a touch awry.
Fernandinho, whose injury could be a significant blow, can be excused some intercepting misjudgements, David Silva let off for a relative lack of influence. Brilliance is not automatic. And Chelsea (David Luiz after missing in the shootout, right) performed with great discipline and, as they became a touch more expansive, paraded the game’s most dangerous player in Eden Hazard.
So this was a triumph City eventually had to grind out, although no one could have envisaged the unedifying drama that erupted minutes ahead of the end of extra-time.
Kepa somehow gets cramp, Sarri understandably does not want a cramped keeper out there for the potential shootout, but the young Spaniard will not budge. Cue a Sarri meltdown. Short of marching on and dragging him off by the collar, there was nothing the Chelsea boss could do.
The ramifications, more likely for manager than spectacularly disobedient player, will be significant.
And it will go down as a landmark moment of this season.
But, for now, do not let it completely overshadow the Sterling strike that sealed a win that City probably just about deserved, if only for their more attacking approach.
A few days ago, Sterling, after the acclaim for scoring the winner in that comeback against Schalke, hinted he was, effectively, going to cut out and keep the positive headlines.
At this rate, he is going to have to find a lot more room in his scrapbook.