City benefit from Sterling service as Seagulls sunk
PERFECTIONIST Raheem Sterling believes his goals will only mean something if they help City to more silverware.
The England star took his tally to 17 Premier League goals for the campaign as he netted a hat-trick in their mauling of Brighton last night.
While dreams of lifting the league title were ended long ago, City still hope to add Champions League and FA Cup trophies to the Carabao Cup they won in February.
And Sterling — whose treble saw him pass the 30-mark in all competitions for club and country — hopes to play his part.
‘The most important thing to me is the value of these goals, that they add to the team,’ he said. ‘At the end of day we’re trying to win the FA Cup and win the Champions League as well, otherwise these goals don’t really mean anything.’
The 25-year-old’s strikes added to goals from Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva as City recorded a second successive 5-0 win.
It has been an impressive response to last weekend’s loss at Southampton when they failed to take numerous chances.
Boss Pep Guardiola did not think the Saints game had a bearing on the way his side played last night.
He said: ‘At Southampton we played incredibly well, with similar chances like today and today we did it. In football sometimes it’s like this, we have to be there and we have to score goals. Before Southampton we scored a lot against Burnley, as a team we create a lot and today we were complete.’
Brighton boss Graham Potter held his hands up and admitted there was little his side could have done to prevent the defeat.
‘We were well beaten by the better team,’ said Potter.
‘The first half we were in it a little bit. We had a couple of opportunities but not that much.
‘Manchester City were very good, they’ve got some players that can hurt you pretty much everywhere.
‘We’re a little bit disappointed with how the second half went, we petered out but at the same time, within four days we’ve had Liverpool and Manchester City.
‘It’s a big ask but we have to dust ourselves down and focus on the next few matches.’