Sane salutes ‘unbelievable’ Sterling after Hammers rout
LONDON: Leroy Sane hailed Raheem Sterling as “unbelievable” on Saturday after the England winger inspired Manchester City to a 4-0 rout of West Ham.
Sterling was unstoppable at the London Stadium as Premier League leaders City racked up their eighth successive win in all competitions.
He set up the opening goal for David Silva and tapped in the second himself with a cool finish from Sane’s cross.
Germany international Sane netted after being set up by another Sterling assist as City raced into a 3-0 lead before half-time.
It was a ruthless display from the champions and all the more impressive coming off the back of a two-week international break.
Sane, who scored his second in stoppage time, admitted Sterling was the key to the latest swaggering show from Pep Guardiola’s side.
“We are all happy that we won here, especially away and after an international break,” Sane told CityTV.
“Before my first goal we did a lot of passes. Raheem had an eye for me in the middle.
“Raheem is unbelievable. A great guy, how he has played this season he has improved a lot. It’s really exciting to play with him.
“He has the hunger to score more goals. I’m really happy for him. Everyone can see we are really motivated to win the games.”
MOURINHO SLAMS UNITED FLOPS
Jose Mourinho accused his Manchester United players of lacking heart after their hopes of a push for the Premier League’s top four were dented by a lethargic 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Mourinho’s side were booed at the end of a match that left them seventh in the table, well adrift of the Champions League qualification positions.
Mourinho had been hopeful a strong showing would help to build the momentum that could carry them back into the top four before 2019 begins.
Instead, he was left to warn his players that a similarly lethargic showing at home to Swiss side Young Boys on Tuesday could leave United struggling to progress from this season’s Champions League group stages.
Mourinho claimed that his players should have treated the Palace match as “special”, arguing that they failed to do so.
“If we play with the same philosophy against Young Boys, then we won’t win and we will have to go to Valencia [in the final Champions League group game] and win there,” he said.
“There are games that are special games and not just one more match. This was a special game, the first of eight Premier League games before the end of December and one we needed to win.
“There was not enough from the heart. You must play with brain and also with heart and I think there was not enough heart”.