The Argentinian striker swung his left arm towards Reid as they contested a header in the 76th minute of Manchester City’s 3-1 victory on Sunday that maintained Pep Guardiola’s 100 per cent win record as City’s manager.
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While there was plenty of excitement at Eastlands, the same could not be said of yesterday’s earlier clash between two of the league’s lesser lights as West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough played out a dispiriting goalless draw at The Hawthorns.
A nightmare Euro 2016 campaign with England followed, Sterling taking most of the flak, despite his age and inexperience, for the failings of Roy Hodgson’s team.
Sterling put City ahead by rounding off a superb move in the seventh minute – a goal that already seemed to have been coming as the hosts started brilliantly – before Fernandinho headed a second.
However, there was to be a twist in the tale from West Ham as Michail Antonio headed home a cross from Arthur Masauku on 58 mins. eventually Sterling closed the game in extra time with an expert finish from a very narrow-angle to put City on top of the League table as we head into the worldwide break.
Sterling added his second late on when he stroked home from a tight angle.
“We created a lot of goalscoring opportunities against West Ham and we hope to keep improving”.
He even tweeted he was #thehatedone as fans focused on his performances as England went from bad to worse before getting knocked out against minnows Iceland. They had their chances too, because we were open, but in the second half I was more than happy.
“The manager’s been in the game a long time, won stuff, worked with young players, worked with great players and I think he knows how to get the best out of his players and he’s been a massive help”.
But boss Slaven Bilic, who has had a number of players missing from his team due to fitness issues, was looking forward in upbeat mood.
“We did not start well and straight away they (City) had a couple of corners and then scored”, he said.
He said the anger he showed after the incident was because he had wanted to make a substitution.
Elsewhere, West Brom manager Tony Pulis was keen to freshen up his squad before the transfer window closes on Wednesday after a forgettable stalemate with Middlesbrough.
“We have our own style”, said Silva.
It was their fifth in a row under Pep Guardiola in all competitions – and one that sent them to the top of the Premier League.
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“Of course, there is still room for improvement”, Guardiola said, “but we have been playing well and hopefully we can continue doing that”. If we lose him, we lose him.
