Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has earned the praise of former Premier League player Owen Hargreaves following his impressive display for the Citizens in the Champions League in midweek.

The England international was one of the best players on the pitch as Manchester City clinched knockout stage qualification by beating their Greek opponents 1-0 away from home. The only goal of the game came in the first half of the European fixturethrough England international Phil Foden and the lone goal was provided by the impressive Raheem Sterling.

The performance of Sterling drew praise from Owen Hargreaves who was on BT Sports to do his punditry job. Owen Hargreaves knows all about the Champions League after he won the competition with Manchester United during the 2007/08 season.

He was a part of the Manchester United squad that won the Champions League title last some 12 years ago by beating Premier League rivals Chelsea on penalties after both teams scored one goal each in regulation and extra time. He was also part of the Bayern Munich team that beat Spanish club Valencia on penalties to win the 2000/01 Champions League title.

On Raheem Sterling, Owen Hargreaves praised his versatility and how he has been able to play as a false nine  in the absence of strikers Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero because of injury. Raheem Sterling is the topscorer for Manchester City this season with five goals in all competitions including one goal in four games.

He would hoping to add to that goal tally when Manchester City welcome Burnley to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening. The Citizens can’t afford more mistakes in the race for the league title as they are eight points off the summit albeit having played a game less than both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur who are at the summit on the Premier League table.