£49M MAN STERLING MAKES AN INSTANT IMPACT
ONE minute he was on his backside, taunted by mocking jeers that echoed around the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The next, he was celebrating his first goal for Manchester City. They have witnessed some quick singles scored down the years at this iconic venue, but few can have felt quite as significant as Raheem Sterling getting off the mark for City following his club record £49million move from Liverpool. For now, the rancour of his final days at Anfield refuses to go away; the request to skip Liverpool’s tour and those two training sessions that Sterling insists were missed on doctor’s orders. The 20-year-old England star was booed by rival fans and Liverpool sympathisers when he appeared at City’s opening tour game on the Gold Coast last weekend, and there was a similar reaction when his name went up on the big screen here yesterday. Ashley Cole, who played for opponents Roma yesterday in the 2-2 draw, knows the feeling, having been pilloried as the pariah of English football. Sterling, to his credit, took it all in his stride. No sooner had he fallen over trying to beat Alessandro Florenzi inside the opening minute, slipping on the soft turf that had caused manager Manuel Pellegrini so much concern, than he was celebrating with his new team-mates. When Kelechi Iheanacho clipped the ball in behind the Roma defence, Sterling’s jetheeled pace took him clear and through on goal and he slipped the ball into the net with 137 seconds on the clock. Afterwards, Sterling posted a picture of his celebration on social media with the message: ‘Back doing what I love doing.’ Samir Nasri, barracked by Arsenal supporters since defecting to City four years ago, has been shocked by the reaction to Sterling in Australia. ‘This is a game between Roma and Manchester City in Melbourne,’ said Nasri. ‘We didn’t expect that from these fans, so it is a little surprise. ‘You always have stupid fans in the stadium. The same happened to me when I left Arsenal. You have to move on. He has come to City and you have to respect his decision.’