It has been nine years since Liverpool fans last celebrated a Raheem Sterling goal.
The England international scored the last of his 23 strikes for the Reds in a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on April 13, 2015 – 3,232 days ago. It came less than two weeks after his controversial, unsanctioned interview with BBC Sport where he confirmed that he had turned down a new £100,000-a-week contract with the club.
Consequently, Kopites had already started to turn lukewarm on the winger, with that strike against the Magpies proving to be his only Liverpool goal following that ill-advised interview. He was actually booed by a number of supporters on May 19 when receiving the Reds’ Young Player of the Year after it had emerged the day before that he would ask to leave the club at the end of the season.
Agent Aidy Ward would burn Sterling’s bridges with Liverpool further on May 21, when he gave his own interview to the London Evening Standard and infamously declared his client would not be staying at Anfield, even if offered £900k a week.
An unused substitute on the final day of the season as the Reds fell to a harrowing 6-1 defeat away at Stoke City on May 24, by this point the then 20-year-old was already well past the point of no return.
Liverpool would reject £30m and £40m bids from Man City for the forward in June, leading to Sterling reportedly asking to be left out of the club’s squad for the pre-season tour of Asia and miss two days of training through illness. Finally on July 12, a £49m deal was agreed, with the England international officially completing the move to the Etihad two days later.
Inevitably, even though Sterling’s decision to move on was admittedly justified by a plethora of trophies won during seven years with Man City, he is not a popular man on the Red half of Merseyside. Kopites do not forget, with the unsavoury nature of his exit ensuring he remains the subject of boos from Liverpool fans to this day.
Most recently on the receiving end at Anfield in last month’s 4-1 victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s side, similar treatment is perhaps expected at Wembley in next weekend’s League Cup final. It has not been overlooked how he has traditionally struggled against his former side too, regularly putting in anonymous displays at his former home – much to the delight of jeering Kopites.
He has emerged victorious just five times from 21 games against the Reds (only three times in the Premier League) and scored just three goals. He celebrated all three, of course, well-aware of his standing at his former club. But even then, two of those strikes were behind closed doors during the Coronavirus pandemic, with the third coming in the glorified friendly that is the Community Shield.
Of course, Liverpool themselves are unrecognisable from the side that Sterling walked out on nine years ago. Jurgen Klopp was appointed as manager three months after his exit, and has since led them to every major prize, including their sixth European Cup, a first ever FIFA Club World Cup win, and their first Premier League title after a 30-year drought.
And while the winger’s Etihad exit in the summer of 2022 coincided with what would be the Reds’ worst campaign under their German manager, Liverpool are now back competing on all four fronts and lead the Premier League table as Klopp looks to depart Anfield on a high this summer.
In contrast, Sterling has endured an underwhelming time since joining Chelsea, having reportedly queried a Reds return only to be sent packing prior to moving to Stamford Bridge. Finishing 12th in the Premier League and trophyless last season, the Londoners continue to underwhelm and are currently tenth in the table.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old, who will chase his first silverware since leaving City against Liverpool next weekend, has lost his place in the England side as a result of such mediocre form. Scoring 17 goals from 69 games for Chelsea, reports earlier this week even suggested he could be moved on by the club next summer.
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Yet while Sterling is no longer competing for Premier League titles, he could still have just struck a decisive blow in this year’s title-race. For the first time in nine years, he has given Liverpool fans reason to celebrate.
Having lost 3-1 away at Arsenal earlier this month, the Reds know their lead at the top of the Premier League table is fragile. The Gunners sit two points behind them, while Man City boast a game-in-hand.
Before this weekend, that outstanding fixture would have sent them top. Set to lock horns at Anfield on March 10, both Liverpool and City know that if either of them win all their remaining games, then they will be the side who are crowned champions come May.
But it is not as simple as that, as Sterling demonstrated beautifully when making his latest return to the Etihad on Saturday evening.
Klopp’s men had already claimed an emphatic 4-1 win away at Brentford on Saturday lunchtime, despite losing three players to injury, to preserve their lead at the top of the table for another gameweek. Having never previously won at the Gtech Community Stadium, it was a statement performance to the rest of the English top-flight.
With Arsenal then thrashing Burnley 5-0 at 3pm, it was over to City to keep the pace at the top as they hosted Chelsea. Victory would have seen them move level with the Gunners in second, two points behind the Reds, with their game-in-hand against Brentford on Tuesday offering them the opportunity to move top.
And even with Liverpool then hosting Luton Town on Wednesday, courtesy of their League Cup final exploits next weekend, City’s trip to Bournemouth next Saturday would offer a day where they could have made top spot their own.
Yet Sterling came back to bite against his other former side, opening the scoring at the Etihad just before half-time. While not as adored by City fans to the same extent as their other modern legends, he is obviously appreciated a lot more than he is at Anfield.
Consequently, he offered an apologetic hand to home supporters with his muted celebrations. But such a strike prompted different reactions from Kopites travelling back to Merseyside following their own win in the capital.
There were cheers and fistpumps at London Euston station, with supporters then battling a struggling internet connection to follow the rest of the action on mobile devices on the 6.43pm train back to Liverpool Lime Street.
Meanwhile, there was even confusion on one supporters coach which had already embarked on its journey home. With Sterling admittedly not recreating his previous heights at Stamford Bridge, while one older fan thought he had actually scored to put City 1-0 up before being put straight by his travelling companions.
“I thought City had gone 1-0 up. He’s such a f***ing turncoat that I don’t even know what team he plays for anymore!” the supporter in question admitted, making it clear just how Sterling’s unsavoury Liverpool exit is still regarded.
As the second half got underway, supporters anxiously continued to follow proceedings while inevitably expecting a City fightback, asking those following the match on mobile devices for dreaded updates while finding it impossible to hide from their animated reactions.
Cursing every Chelsea miss, and head in hands every time City went close, eventually the inevitable happened. Rodri equalised in the 83rd minute, to the disgust of those travelling Kopites. They have been stung by the Spaniard’s knack for big goals too many times before.
Yet on this occasion, there would be no late winner from Pep Guardiola’s men. Relief oozed out from supporters at the sound of the final whistle as reality hit home. Any dropped points is still a good result for Liverpool.
It means the title-race is now in their hands, with even a win for City in their game-in-hand leaving them one point behind. If the Reds don’t slip up, the title will be theirs.
Admittedly, there is still plenty of football still to be played. There are three months to go and 27 league matches combined still to play for the two title-hopefuls, including that showdown at Anfield on March 10. And there will still be 10 games to play and 30 points up for grabs after that top-of-the-table encounter.
But having previously lost out on the title by a solitary point to Man City on the last day of the season twice before, Liverpool are well-aware just how much every last point counts and how every single dropped point can turn the tide. No wonder the departing Klopp is running out of energy.
Of course, Saturday’s draw at the Etihad isn’t the first time Sterling has cost Guardiola’s men this season. He also scored in the 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge back in November, putting Chelsea 2-1 up at the time.
The Reds had won 3-0 at home to Brentford earlier that day, and celebrated Cole Palmer’s 95th minute equaliser. But even then, such results had only seen them move up to second behind City, and close the gap to a single point.
Three months on and they are the league-leaders, and those four points Sterling has helped take off Guardiola’s reigning champions could prove decisive. As Liverpool attention now switches to Luton Town on Wednesday, the forward is free to focus his efforts on attempting to down his other former side at Wembley next week. Having won his first trophy with City at the Reds’ expense in 2015, he will hope history can repeat itself.
