Sterling’s top display lights up Euro stage
AMONG the bags of subplots from a bonkers night at the Etihad on Tuesday were tales of redemption.
For the visitors, Radamel Falcao showed English viewers what he hadn’t managed at United or Chelsea.
In blue, John Stones picked himself up from getting skinned for the striker’s second goal of the night to put City back in the lead.
As a team, Pep Guardiola’s side showed the kind of fighting spirit that was lacking in the Champions League before he arrived.
In the big picture, it seemed a pretty ordinary night for Raheem Sterling.
He scored one, he made another and was one of four players to get a 9/10 in our player ratings. An impressive performance undoubtedly, but he’s been putting in a string of them of late.
The surprise as far as the England forward goes came later in the week.
UEFA announced that Sterling had been crowned Player of the Week for his performance. Ahead of Atletico’s Kevin Gameiro, Juventus attacker Paulo Dybala and Leicester’s Kaspel Schmeichel, it was the City man who was deemed the best in Europe for the latest round of games.
More than just recognition though, this was public approval. The award was voted on by football fans – and it wasn’t a photo finish.
Days after Sterling had a bottle thrown in his direction while he was warming up, that is some turnaround.
That one incident was in domestic competition and the other continental can’t be ignored – the abuse and criticism of the player is very English.
Since his move from Liverpool to City, he has been dismissed as a money-grabbing snake. According to some idiots at Burnley, he let his country down at Euro 2016.
That doesn’t necessarily translate to the European viewers that make up UEFA’s audience. But the Champions League Player of the Week is still something of a popularity contest. Of the eight awards this season, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has won three of them. Given that, it seems the scarcely believable conclusion has to be that fans in their masses liked and appreciated Sterling’s performance in midweek. The 22-year-old had admitted to giving social media a wide berth since the summer. “Before, you take a stroll and you look at the app on your phone, just being nosey, and you see your name and probably have a little bit of a read,” he said. “But now I don’t pay it any attention anymore. I simply leave it alone.” If this vote is an indicator of what’s to come, he might have to get his apps back.