Raheem Sterling plunders first-half hat-trick as City smash Bournemouth

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The former Liverpool man answered his Manchester City critics with a timely hat-trick as Bournemouth were swept aside 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

Raheem Sterling scored his first professional hat-trick as Manchester City ran out 4-1 winners against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, and it came at just the right time.

Sterling's place on the left of City's attack had looked under threat before the international break thanks to a few ineffectual performances, but he's come back with a bang.

"I think it was very important for Raheem to score in this game three goals," Manuel Pellegrini said afterwards. "It is important for him to improve his finishing. I think he did that today. I don’t think that Raheem is a striker like Kun [Aguero] or like Bony. He is an offensive player who must improve his finishing, and I think this year, and I said when he arrived here, he must improve. He is improving and I’m sure that this season he will score more goals than the other seasons that he played for Liverpool."

Having netted for England, he took just seven minutes to open the scoring here with a close-range tap in. His second, with the score at 2-1 after Glenn Murray replied to Wilfried Bony's first goal of the season, was the best of the lot.

Following a lovely ball from Kevin De Bruyne, he ran at the visiting defenders, left two of them on their backsides and slotted past Adam Federici. He's sometimes criticised for a lack of composure in front of goal - and indeed he could have added even more goals in the second half - but he was perfect in that instant.

After Jesus Navas made a mess of rounding Federici - like he did at Crystal Palace a month ago - Sterling was there to tap in the loose ball.

As mentioned, he could have had a couple more in the second half but he was thwarted by his own hesitancy and a wayward finish. 

But with big games against Sevilla and United in the next eight days, the hat-trick was perfectly timed and should clear up any doubts about his place in the City team for now.