Raheem Sterling is Manchester City's Mr. Dependable in the title race
Raheem Sterling has a knack for scoring late goals for Manchester City this season. Raheem Sterling has a knack for scoring late goals for Manchester City this season.
Take away Raheem Sterling's late game-changing goals this season and Manchester City's lead at the top of the Premier League table is just one point. After netting the equaliser in his team's 1-1 draw with Everton in August, he's struck late on to win matches against Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Southampton, all 2-1.
The winger's goals have earned City seven points domestically, as well as two points in their Champions League group thanks to the 88th-minute effort that secured a 1-0 success against Feyenoord earlier in November.
Sterling is on fire and his form is showing no signs of slowing down. He's been one of the most important parts of a team that is breaking records on a game-by-game basis and the 22-year-old has already surpassed his previous best tally of goals in a season. In both 2014-15 and 2015-16, he found the net 11 times for his club in all competitions -- he's already hit 13 this term, having played just 19 times.
His longest run in a City shirt without finding the net this season is just over two games. It's a barren run that lasted a meagre 250 minutes, between his 90th-minute hit in the 4-2 win at Napoli and the goal against Feyenoord.
While the plaudits have been going to Pep Guardiola's team because of their free-flowing attacking football, their ability to keep winning matches under pressure and to remain calm when the scores are still level in the closing stages has been a revelation this season.
Their grit to dig in when the going gets tough has been decisive this campaign. There have almost been two versions of the side: The first can play the opposition off the pitch and give other managers nightmares over how to resist the irresistible. The second can plug away looking for the winning goal with every available minute, without compromising on their passing-and-moving style.
In almost all of the tight games that have gone City's way this season, Sterling has been the difference. As the winger sprinted the length of the pitch to celebrate his latest last-gasp winner, any doubts about his influence at the Etihad should surely have been banished.
Having faced criticism from all corners in his first two years in Manchester following his £49 million move from Liverpool in 2015, Sterling must be sleeping well knowing that he's answering his detractors every time he takes to the field.
Doubts over his crossing and awareness on the flank have been rubbished each time he's stepped around a defender and squared for Sergio Aguero et al to slot the ball home. Accusations that he struggles to finish chances now look comical, as he's had his best goal-scoring season of his career with more than half the campaign still to go.
Raheem Sterling has grown into one of Manchester City's most important players.
Guardiola's influence has brought about the change. A video recently showed the manager coaching exactly what he wanted to see from the winger -- only for Sterling to do exactly that in the following Champions League game and score the winning goal.
Along with finding a way to get Kevin De Bruyne on the ball and in space in key areas, unlocking David Silva's previously hidden assets and creating a fast, balanced attack with Sterling and Leroy Sane on the flanks, the manager is quickly putting his mark on this team.
It's often suggested Guardiola is a "chequebook manager" -- a coach that can only win when spending a lot of money to bring in top players. Of course, City have paid a lot for talented players in recent years, but the development of the stars that were already thought to be hitting their potential when he arrived demonstrates just what he can do.
Sterling is the leading example of that. When the Catalan arrived, the winger was coming off the back of a poor Euro 2016 tournament where he had been scapegoated by England fans. Some 15 months later, he is City's leading scorer, the club's most valuable asset in tight matches and perhaps the best player in the top flight this season.
You get the impression that the joy on Sterling's face when he's scored decisive goals for his team isn't just down to the situation on the pitch. For the first time since he joined City, the 22-year-old appears to be truly enjoying every minute of his football. Proving his doubters wrong has been of great satisfaction to him, his manager and the fans that have supported him when he was being booed by others.
The player that finished Manuel Pellegrini's final term at City would often go hiding, shirking the responsibility of taking a game by the scruff of the neck. The player Guardiola is now coaching is Mr. Dependable, trustworthy in the big games and the person fans want the ball to drop to at the crucial moments.
Sterling's stock has never been higher.
David Mooney is ESPN FC's Manchester City blogger. Twitter: @DavidMooney
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Source: espn.co.uk
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