Sterling: Man City ´fully focused´ on completing treble

Raheem Sterling says Manchester City are “fully focused” on completing a treble after beating Aston Villa 2-1 in Sunday’s EFL Cup final.

City lifted the trophy for a third year in a row – and the fifth time in seven seasons – thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Rodri inside the opening 30 minutes at Wembley.

Mbwana Samatta’s header gave spirited Villa hope and City survived a scare when Bjorn Engels’ header was turned onto the post by Claudio Bravo late on.

Sterling concedes his side have no hope of overhauling the 22-point gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool, but the forward is eyeing up more silverware in the Champions League and FA Cup.

The reigning Premier League champions lead Real Madrid 2-1 ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and travel to Sheffield Wednesday in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday.

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“The league has been difficult,” he told Sky Sports. “We won one title so far and we’re still in the running for two more so we we’re fully focused and ready to do the business.

“We just have to keep focused and that’s what we’ve done here.

“It’s so hard to [win it] for three years on the bounce and that’s what we have done – we just need to keep going and winning trophies.”

Including the Community Shield, City have now won eight of the last nine competitions they have entered and head coach Guardiola does not expect any team to match that level of dominance.

“I think the fact that we’ve won eight of nine is incredible – it’s remarkable,” he said. “I think it will be so difficult to do it again, not just for ourselves but for our opponents – it’s the consistency.

“For this club it’s not just about one title, it’s about every game we play and every title we play for counts and try to win and that is the best thing we can give for this club.

“Sometimes you win a title and then after cannot win a title for a long time. 

“What is important is everybody knows we have the responsibility to fight and try to win the games and titles and that means a lot.”