His tap in against Real Madrid saw the 25-year old become our latest Centurion – just reward after what has been another remarkable campaign by the England winger.
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To help celebrate Sterling’s latest illustrious landmark, we have delved through the archives to pick out 10 of Raheem’s most memorable and important goals for the Club.
1Bournemouth (h) September 2015
Sterling gave the City fans a taste of what was to come as he struck his first hat-trick for the Club in fine style.
And Sterling’s opening strike against the Cherries in what was a five-star Etihad showing by City was undoubtedly the pick of the bunch.
In what was to be the first of many such moments, Kevin De Bruyne was the supplier, finding Sterling as the winger made a perfectly timed run in behind the Cherries defence.
From there, Sterling took centre stage, taking on two defenders inside the area before slotting home expertly for the first of many such memorable moments.
2Arsenal (H) December 2016
Whether it is a sheer coincidence but Arsenal often brings the best out of Sterling and our Etihad assignment against the Gunners in December 2016 again saw Raheem at his clinical best.
With the game balanced at 1-1 and less than 20 minutes remaining, Kevin De Bruyne produced a remarkable 60-yard crossfield pass that picked out the onrushing Sterling on the right flank.
Sterling then teased Nancho Monreal, before driving into the area, giving himself room to swing his left boot and blasting past Petr Cech at the near post!
Deadly and effective – the hallmarks of Sterling at his destructive best.
3Bournemouth (a) August 2017
In a precursor of what was to become a welcome habit, Sterling proved the man of the moment as he struck a dramatic 97th minute winner at the Vitality Stadium to set City on course for what would be a historic run of 18 consecutive league victories.
Deep into injury time, with the score locked at 1-1, Sterling cut in wide from the left and exchanged passes with Kevin De Bruyne before seeing his deflected shot loop in and nestle in the back of the Bournemouth net.
Amidst scenes of wild celebration, Sterling was controversially shown a red card – but even that couldn’t detract from what felt like a huge moment even coming so early in the season.
4Southampton (h) November 2017
Talk about saving the best until last.
A dramatic and spectacular late, late winner against a stubborn Southampton proved one of the standout moments of our Centurions campaign and sparked scenes of unbridled joy all around the Etihad.
With the game locked at 1-1 seven minutes into stoppage time, City’s hopes of securing a club-record 12th consecutive Premier League win looked to be receding.
Enter Sterling.
Receiving the ball on the corner of the Southampton box, Sterling produced a sublime moment of skill to curl a stunning shot into the top corner to spark pandemonium inside the ground and on the touchline.
5Arsenal (a) August 2018
File under: statements of intent.
In the first game of the 2018/19, Sterling and the defending champions fired a timely reminder of our quality as we opened the new campaign in thrilling style at the Emirates.
Trademark Sterling cut inside across the edge of the box past three Arsenal defenders before drilling an unstoppable shot beyond Petr Cech and inside the right-hand post.
It helped deliver a 2-0 win and was the precursor that saw Sterling and City go on to claim all four domestic trophies.
6Shakhtar Donetsk (h) October 2018
City served up six of the best as we crushed the Ukrainian champions at the Etihad, and it was Sterling who delivered arguably the goal of the night.
An irresistible blend of power and panache saw Sterling launch a slaloming run at the Shakhtar defence from middle of the half before he drifted inside before unleashing another brilliant shot inside the right-hand post.
As ever, Sterling made the difficult look fiendishly simple.
7Schalke (a) February 2019
Another dramatic late, late winner – and one that illustrated another facet to both City and Sterling. With time up and City and Schalke locked at 2-2 in our Champions League last 16 first leg tie, Sterling was again the man of the moment, delivering a quite brilliant winner.
It featured a rocket of an assist from Ederson, who drilled a stunning pinpoint 60-yard pass to Sterling on the right side of the Schalke half.
However, there was still work to do, with Sterling showing his strength to shrug off the attention of a defender before ignoring the tight angle and an onrushing Schalke keeper to coolly slot home inside the far post and so seal a last gasp 3-2 win.
8Dinamo Zagreb (h) October 2019
Raheem turned super sub as he came off the bench to inspire a Champions League win over the dogged and resolute Croatians.
Summoned into action midway through the second half with the game goalless, Sterling proved the catalyst for a crucial 2-0 Group C victory as he broke the deadlock 18 minutes from time with a wonderful team goal.
It was City at our incisive best as Ilkay Gundogan and Rodrigo’s pin-sharp passing conspired to put Riyad Mahrez in space on the left. The Algerian unleashed an inviting whipped cross and Sterling applied a poachers’ close range finish to demonstrate another weapon in his armoury.
9Arsenal (h) June 2020
In City’s first game back after the three-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sterling simply picked up from where he had left off - and in some style too.
In first-half stoppage time against Mikel Arteta’s Gunners and with the game goalless, it was suddenly business as usual as De Bruyne (who else) picked out Sterling with another delicious long-range through ball, arcing over the visitor’s backline.
Sterling was coolness and calmness personified as he waited for the ball to drop before blasting home an unstoppable half volley past Bernd Leno to set City on our way to a 3-0 win.
10Brighton (a) July 2020
Another bravura collective display from City – and the latest in a series of standout individual performances from our wing wizard - saw Sterling chalk up his third hat-trick of the season.
The first was a trademark low stinging drive while the third was a curious beast with the ball bouncing in off Raz’s head after he tumbled in the box as he bore down on the Seagulls’ goal.
However, we’ve plumped for his second – a fine glancing header from Riyad Mahrez’s cross which merely further emphasised why Sterling has been head and shoulders above the rest in the goalscoring stakes this term.
