Guardiola taken aback by Sterling’s prolific season start
MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager pep guard io la admit she has been surprised by Raheem Sterling’s proliic start to the campaign with the Premier League leaders.
The England forward scored the winning goal in the midweek Champions League victory over Feyenoord, taking his season’s tally to 11 goals, equal with the most he has ever scored in an entire campaign.
He has finally been showing the sort of potential that convinced City to pay Liverpool around £50 million ($67 million, 56 million euros) for his services, important for the club given that Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus have not been automatic selections this season.
And that form has even taken aback his manager.
“Yes -- but it’s good,” said Guardiola when asked on Friday if Sterling’s record surprised him.
“Sergio didn’t play all the games, Gabriel too. Normally both or one are better. It’s good that the players know he can score goals like the one against Feyenoord.
“We have a lot of players who can score and that’s good. You can’t win the title with just one or two scoring goals. We have goals from wingers, from set-pieces Kevin (De Bruyne), Nico (Otamendi) -- it’s so important.”
Guardiola has also been relieved by the fact that there was no retrospective punishment taken against Sterling when he won a crucial penalty against Arsenal in their recent league victory.