Raheem’s bravery to clinch glory is testament to

FORGET, for a moment, one o of the most remarkable incidents seen in a Wembley c cup final.

Forget, because most already h have, 120 minutes of football t that featured three shots on t target – one of which looked suspiciously like a mishit cross.

And concentrate on the w winning hit.

The first leg of Manchester City’s unlikely tilt at the q quadruple has been completed (Ederson and Walker celebrate, l left), thanks to the bottle and t technique of Raheem Sterling.

Because that is what this c curious game boiled down to.

Sterling against Kepa, the k keeper who might even end up h having a final named after him f 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, 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 d o i ng a c onf i d ent , happy thing. And giving