Raheem Sterling misses sitter and scores stunner in first half at Selhurst Park

Redemption came quick for Sterling

Manchester City went into Sunday's match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park knowing that a win was necessary if there were to avoid allowing Liverpool the chance to gain an outright lead in the title race. City were two points behind Liverpool going into the match with a game in hand, so there was no margin error. A miss by Raheem Sterling early in the game though, just 10 minutes after kick-off in fact, provided about as much error as City would like to see for the entire afternoon from their side, as the in-form forward dragged a sitter wide after having the ball squared to him. The miss left manager Pep Guardiola with his head in his hands and fans likely questioning how a player in such good form could miss such a relatively easy chance. https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1117417108474859520 Well, minutes later and we were all reminded yet again of just how talented Sterling truly is, as he gave City the lead with a quite frankly stunning effort. Latching onto a lovely through ball down the channel from Kevin De Bruyne, Sterling managed to hold off his marker and aim a swerving shot over Palace's keeper Vicente Guaita and into the goal off the crossbar. The goal, aside from its quality, was yet further evidence of Sterling's elite mentality - possessed by top quality players of every era - which sees him unaffected by misses and purely focused on the next opportunity.