City Lose In Premier League Opener, Sterling: Difficult To Start With Defeat

Raheem Sterling (mancity.com)

JAKARTA - Raheem Sterling has vowed that Manchester City will bounce back from the defeat in the 2021/22 Premier League opener to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday night.

The 0-1 result made City for the first time start the season with a defeat, not only since being handled by Pep Guardiola but also after the last 10 seasons can always start with a win.

"It's always difficult to start with a defeat, but it's a long journey, we have to stay focused and bounce back from this result," Sterling said after the match, quoted by Antara from City's official website.

Pep Guardiola's men actually appeared to dominate 65 percent of possession, but the only goal in the game was scored by Son Heung-min for Tottenham.

The goal was the fruit of one of the counter-attacks that became Tottenham's mainstay strategy, considering that the team that Nuno Espirito Santo is currently handling throughout the match tends to be under pressure from the visitors.

"We had full control of the game in the first 15 minutes but they slowly found a way to counter-attack which was getting faster and faster," Sterling said.

"Obviously we could have controlled the game better and prevented their chances on the counter-attack.

"But in the end they did the most important thing in football, scoring goals, while we didn't. It's a difficult result to accept, but the season is still very long."

The game also marked Jack Grealish's debut for City in the league after being bought as the Premier League's most expensive player.

Sterling believes he and the rest of his team-mates will be able to build a more cohesive partnership with Grealish as the season progresses.

"I've played with Jack a few times. So far the collaboration has been good, but this is just the beginning for us," he said.

"We'll be able to learn from each other's game as the season progresses and hopefully build a better relationship."

City closed their Premier League opener in 13th place and they will then play their first home game of the season at home to promoted Norwich City at the Etihad on Saturday, 21 August.