PEP: HOW’S THAT FOR A PENALTY, ARSENE!

PEP GUARDIOLA aimed a measured dig at Arsene Wenger as Raheem Sterling broke his personal scoring record with a late winner at Huddersfield. Sterling — who hit his 12th of the season, his best ever — changed the landscape of a testing afternoon for Manchester City. The 22-year-old had earlier won a penalty when fouled by Huddersfield’s Scott Malone and Guardiola believes he can become the complete player. ‘Maybe Arsene will say that is a penalty,’ Guardiola said after the Arsenal manager had suggested Sterling ‘dives well’. ‘The penalty is more than clear. I’m impressed. He’s young and he can improve. If he wants to learn, then we’ll be there to help him.’ Sterling has scored one more than Sergio Aguero, who netted the spot kick after Nicolas Otamendi’s own goal had seen City trail at half-time. Sterling’s 84th-minute winner was his seventh goal in the final 10 minutes of games this season, earning City an added seven points across the Premier League and in Europe. ‘He’s a winning player,’ added Guardiola. ‘Before he made good actions but now he is winning games. We’re in November and he’s already broken the record. He’s top but not only with goals.’ City’s 37 points from 13 matches is the highest recorded in the Premier League and they became the first top-flight club to win 11 straight away matches. The second-half turnaround was also the first time since 1995 that City have won a league game when losing at the break. When told that, a surprised Guardiola replied ‘Ostia’ — a Spanish expletive. The Catalan also insisted City cannot go unbeaten, despite winning 18 matches on the trot, and revealed the victory in Yorkshire gave him more pleasure than some thrashings handed out this term. ‘It’s impossible to finish unbeaten,’ he added. ‘We played a real Premier League game today, the winter has come, and it was tough. We did it. When you win comfortably people say nice words but that isn’t the reality.’ ‘I cannot remember one team, of Sir Alex (Ferguson) at United or Arsenal when they won by four or five every week.’ Rajiv van la Parra was sent off at full-time for raising his hands to Leroy Sane after a heated afternoon which included a row between the Huddersfield bench and Kyle Walker. But David Wagner refused to criticise referee Craig Pawson: ‘The referee has done his job. I’ve not seen anything to complain about,’ he said.