Guardiola praise as Sterling rises
PEP Guardiola praised Raheem Sterling’s character after the England forward ended a difficult week with a goalscoring display in the victory over Everton.
Sterling has been at the centre of a big debate about racism in football in recent days after being subjected to alleged discriminatory abuse during City’s defeat at Chelsea last weekend.
With a tough schedule ahead, manager Guardiola did opt to rotate Sterling but he came off the bench to score City’s third as they wrapped up a 3-1 Premier League success at the Etihad Stadium.
“I see him so calm,” said Guardiola. “My feeling is he has handled many situations in the last year. There are many rumours that people have been talking about, and not nice things about him or his family or, in this case, the colour of his skin.
“And that is why I admire him. I admire that it is not easy for him but he is calm, he is happy playing football and he is beloved.”
Sterling was sent on in immediate response to Dominic Calvert- Lewin pulling a goal back for Everton in the 65th minute after Gabriel Jesus had scored t wice. Within a minute Sterling had restored City’s t wo- goal advantage after combining nicely with Fernandinho and heading home the Brazilian’s return cross.
Burnley were agonisingly close to holding Tottenham to a draw at Wembley but Christian Eriksen netted in injury time to earn a 1- 0 victory for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and keep them within five points of City.
Watford ended a six-game winless run in the Premier League with a 3-2 success against Cardiff, although they were made to sweat.
At the bottom of the table there were important 1-0 victories for Crystal Palace – despite the absence of Wilfried Zaha – and Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Chris Smalling has signed a new contract with Manchester United that runs until at least 2022.
The 29- year- old defender, who joined the club from Fulham in 2010, was due to be out of contract at the end of the season. A club statement said the deal included an option to extend for a further year.