Sterling and his City colleagues have been in sparkling form since the resumption of action last month following the three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The England winger was at his inspirational best against Liverpool on Thursday, wining a penalty, scoring and seeing another effort deflected in as he helped City to crush the newly crowned champions 4-0 at the Etihad.
With the Carabao Cup already secured, Pep Guardiola’s side have a twin incentive of yet more silverware with an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal looming in a fortnight and a Champions League last 16 decider against Real Madrid also on the horizon.
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And, as he looked ahead to the rest of the campaign, Sterling believes both the manner of our Liverpool triumph – allied to the collective hunger within the squad to make up for relinquishing the title – only augurs well for more success between now and the end of August.
“Hopefully, we can finish with an FA Cup final and a Champions League final,” Sterling declared.
“We are a team that missed out on the Premier League and we have got to go on and try to do our best as we can in all competitions and that is the FA Cup and the Champions League.
“It is difficult seeing Liverpool take the title from us, but they have been brilliant all year.
“On Thursday, it was just another game, but it was a chance to finish high. In the Premier League we need to win all our games and finish on a high in the FA Cup and the Champions League.”
Pitted against his former club, Sterling produced another magnificent all-round display and that was matched by his colleagues with City at our incisive, clinical best.
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And the 25-year-old admitted it was a source of huge personal and professional pride to hit the target against Jürgen Klopp’s side – even if the Premier League’s goals adjudication panel ruled that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was to be credited with an own goal for City’s final strike – thus depriving Raheem of a deserved brace.
“I thought the boys were brilliant, we fought from minute one,” Sterling reflected.
“They [Liverpool] have been fantastic all year, they deserved to win the league.
“We haven’t quite been up to the standard, but we put up a fight [on Thursday night] and we couldn’t let them win easily.
“It was a great result. From minute one, the boys were brilliant. They had a few chances but when our opportunities came, we took our chances.
“It is always a good feeling when you score. It is against a team that has been brilliant over the last couple of years, so it was good to score against them.
“All I can say (about the own goal) is that it was a great assist from Kevin (De Bruyne), and I am going to send a few emails to the Premier League to try and get that goal!”
