Pep singing Sterling's praises after another late City winner

MANCHESTER, England-Raheem Sterling was hailed as a "special" player by his Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after another of the forward's late winners sent the Etihad Stadium crowd into delirium on Wednesday.

With almost the last kick of the game, Sterling's exquisite 96th-minute curler earned City a 2-1 win over Southampton.

It marked the fifth time this season the England international has scored a crucial goal in the final 10 minutes for the Premier League leader.

The goal ensured unbeaten City regained its eight-point advantage over Manchester United at the top of the standings, and the touchline celebrations it prompted added to the sense that it was a pivotal moment in the race.

"Raheem is a match-winner, I am so happy for him," Guardiola told the BBC. "He is special, it was an amazing goal. It is more than important, it is beautiful."

Sterling's transformation under the Spaniard this season has also been something special.

Once renowned as a player who might sparkle only intermittently, not only has he been scoring more goals than ever before but they have been important ones.

He has delivered whenever City has needed late inspiration and, for the third match in a row, he popped up with a late winner, following the 88th-minute goal against Feyenoord in the Europa League and the 84th-minute winner at Huddersfield Town.

On a squad that includes two of South America's finest strikers, Sterling would have been a long shot to be top scorer, but this was his 13th goal this term in all competitions, more than either Sergio Aguero (11) or Gabriel Jesus (10).

After last weekend's heroics at Huddersfield, Guardiola said of the change in the former Liverpool winger: "He is winning games. Now he is a winning player."

This was City's club-record 12th successive league victory, demonstrating again that even on nights when its play does not catch the breath, the players have the steel, nous and spirit to eke out a win.

"What impresses the most is the heart with which they play. What happened in the locker room (afterwards) was amazing. You have to enjoy these situations, you never know what will happen in the future," Guardiola said.

"We want to win the league but you have to celebrate when you score in the last breath like that.

"It was an astonishing end to the game. It means a lot. They had 10 guys in the box, it was so complicated to attack them.

"At the end our momentum kept going, Raheem scores a fantastic goal. A day we'll remember for the rest of our lives."

After the final whistle, Guardiola was involved in an angry verbal exchange with Southampton winger Nathan Redmond, which the City manager said was to do with what he saw as the visitor's time-wasting tactics.

"I was telling Nathan Redmond how good he is at the end. Southampton has some super talented players, Redmond is so good one against one. But they didn't want to play, they were time wasting from the ninth minute. I just wanted them to play."

Midfielder Oriol Romeu looked as if he had earned a point for Saints in the 75th minute when he swept home from close range. That canceled out City's opener, which came when Virgil van Dijk sliced a Kevin De Bruyne freekick into his own net in the 47th minute.

The only time City has dropped points in the league this season was a 1-1 at home to Everton in August.

City remains unbeaten after 14 games, but its opponents might finally be working out how to compete.

Perhaps seeing how an ultra-defensive Huddersfield frustrated City, Southampton lined up with five defenders and three defensive midfielders - and the formation worked in the first half.

Agencies

(China Daily 12/01/2017 page24)