Raheem Sterling immediately off the mark as Man City win

Tuesday 21 Jul 2015
Raheem Sterling celebrates his first goal in a Man City shirt

Raheem Sterling has quickly settled into life at Manchester City – and made an immediate impact with a goal inside the opening three minutes of his first appearance for the club.

The England forward, who completed his move from Liverpool on 14 July, flew out to Australia to join his new team-mates on their pre-season tour.

And after being handed a starting berth against Roma in Melbourne, he took just two minutes and 17 seconds to open his account in the blue of Manchester City.

Raheem Sterling is congratulated by his new team-mates

The 20-year-old raced onto a clever chipped through-ball from the impressive Kelechi Iheanacho and coolly finished with a low shot.

The goal came shortly after one of his first touches in his new shirt – an inauspicious moment he will want to forget, as he tripped over ball in an attempt to do a stepover.

But his strike moments spared his blushes on the evening at the MCG in Melbourne.

The former Queens Park Rangers youth player was taken off at half-time – along with eight other City players – but manager Manuel Pellegrini was pleased with his display.

A moment to forget for Raheem Sterling as he trips over the ball moments before scoring

He told a post-match press conference: "It is always important for the strikers to score. He scored very early in the game.

"He just played 45 minutes. He has worked with our team for just a few days so I am very happy with the way he played.

"He demonstrated why he is here, he demonstrated not only his value as a player. 

"He is a very young player so I think he will improve a lot in the future, playing with Yaya [Toure], David Silva and [Sergio] Aguero.

"I am very happy for him and very happy for our team to have bought him." 

England's Joe Hart saved two penalties during the shoot-out

After three more goals – including a late equaliser from former Manchester United player Adem Ljajic – the game ended in a 2-2 stalemate.

And the responsibility fell to one of Sterling England team-mates – Joe Hart – to star in the penalty shoot-out that followed.

The Three Lions stopper scored one and saved twice City ran out 5-4 victors.

By Jamie Reid Senior Writer