Raheem Sterling is now enjoying the most prolific season of his career after his hat-trick in Manchester City’s 5-0 win at Brighton took his tally to 27 in all competitions.
The England international opened the scoring at the Amex Stadium with a low drive into the bottom corner from just outside the area after 21 minutes.
Gabriel Jesus doubled City’s advantage shortly before half-time, with Sterling making it 3-0 with a rare header eight minutes into the second half, ensuring he surpassed his previous best goal tally of 25.
Bernardo Silva made it 4-0 five minutes later as City threatened to cut through the Seagulls defence at will.
Fittingly it was Sterling who put a final gloss on the scoreline when he capitalised on a mix-up in the Brighton defence to scramble another header over the line and wrap up his hat-trick.
It is the second hat-trick Sterling has scored this season after he hit a treble in City’s 5-1 Champions League win over Atalanta in October. It is also the 32nd time City have scored four or more goals under Pep Guardiola since he took charge in 2016, more than any other Premier League side in that time.
It is a reflection of the standards achieved by Guardiola during his tenure, with Sterling one of the players who seems to have benefited most from the Catalan’s stewardship.
The 25-year-old has scored 20 or more goals in each of the last three seasons, with his tally increasing with each passing year.
This latest treble means he overtakes Sergio Aguero as City’s top scorer in the Premier League and is now just four goals behind Jamie Vardy in the race for the Golden Boot.
"The most important thing for me is to add goals to the team. We want to win the FA Cup and the Champions League otherwise these goals don’t mean anything. I need to make sure they count," Sterling told Sky Sports.
Saturday's win ensures City will finish second in the Premier League, though that will be little consolation after winning back-to-back titles.
Sterling, though, thinks he has identified where the team has gone wrong this year.
"The problem we’ve had this season is creating a lot of chances and last season we finished them and buried games early on. This season we’ve not had the luck but we’re growing and doing things right," he added.
"We were disappointed last week to lose at Southampton. We created chances but couldn’t finish them. But it's great to bounce back with an away win."
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