Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has praised the character of The Citizens, as they didn't stop "trying to play football" despite being down to ten-men in their eventual 1-1 draw with Everton.
Never stopped trying
Nobody expected an easy fixture against The Toffees but having not lost a opening home fixture in Premier League era, City fans had a right to be confident. However, that soon turned to concern after Wayne Rooney notched his 200th Premier League goal quickly followed by the dismissal of Kyle Walker just before the break.
Despite the man disadvantage, City continued to play their flowing football which was eventually rewarded with Sterling's equaliser. The numbers were even once again as Morgan Schneiderlin was sent off late on but post-match Sterling was full of praise for how City played despite their numerical disadvantage.
"It was an end-to-end game," Sterling stated to mancity.com. "Especially with us being down to ten men."
"But I thought second half being down to ten men," the forward admitted. "We didn't stop trying to stop playing football."
"Credit to the team because it is difficult when you go down to ten men," the 22-year-old told. "But we kept pushing and got the equaliser and in the end it came up too late."
Hard work is going to be the key
Though disappointed with the result Pep Guardiola's men can take comfort in the hard work they put in as the game went on, and will have been shocked they didn't grab a late winner.
If anyone was going to provide that piece of magic it would have been substitute Bernardo Silva who was pulling the strings in the last 20 minutes, the Portugal international admitted that they would face "some difficulties" against Ronald Koeman's men but that City "will work" to gain the three points from Saturday's clash with Bournemouth.
“Everton is always a difficult team and everyone knows that," he said to the club's website. "They invested a lot this summer, they have a strong team and we knew we were going to face some difficulties."
"Unfortunately we were capable of winning tonight," Silva concluded. "But we will work to win the three points, in the next game.”