Goals from the former and latter handed the Blues a crucial three points at the Stadium of Light, while the influence of Sterling – along with Silva and Toure himself – helped to lift Pep Guardiola’s men to third in the Premier League table – a point behind second-placed Tottenham.
Toure, who did well to retain possession and drive forward in the build-up to the opener, admitted it was not an entirely comfortable evening for his side, adding he was delighted to have earned the win.
“We are very happy with the performance and very happy with the three points,” he reflected.
“Sunderland made us suffer in the first half. It was quite close. They were very strong and those kind of teams – fighting against relegation – are always difficult.
“We try to do our best and play as well as possible.
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“Sunderland were full of confidence today and the fans were pushing them. It was an unbelievable atmosphere.
“We worked very hard and very well. In the first half, I was a little bit scared. After that, our guys came on fire – Sane, Sterling, Aguero.
“They tried to move the ball. They made the difference. These three guys are unbelievable.
“After the first goal, we tried to make Sunderland run a little bit. We know it is quite hard to keep at that level for 90 minutes.
“With the quality players we have – Silva, De Bruyne, Aguero – we tried to make the ball move and it was quite difficult for them.
“In the end, we finished the game with a win but it was quite close. At 2-0, it is never finished but we were lucky today.”
