Raheem Sterling, last but not least, correctly responds to Gareth Southgate’s rejection of Burnley.
Raheem Sterling does a good job of reacting to Gareth Southgate’s selection against Burnley.
Gareth Southgate can rest easy knowing there are still many potent attacking alternatives available despite Raheem Sterling’s continued exclusion from the England squad being noticeable for the abrupt rejection of a player who was once seen as one of his reliables.
However, Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t have that luxury, so when he reintroduced Sterling to the starting lineup, he had to look to the winger here, and Sterling is what helped his Chelsea club escape the Turf Mud.
After Wilson Odobert’s breakaway goal, the Blues played without guile or intent for about 30 minutes before halftime, trailing 1-0 and in danger of suffering their first Premier League defeat at this Lancashire location.
The away team went on to win 4-1, marking their first league victories in a row since March. Sterling, however, scored the two goals that changed the course of the game with bursts on either side of the half and then put an end to it with a third of his own.
Sterling, who had started the match against Fulham on Monday on the bench, did not come back right away when Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for the Blues at Craven Cottage and was subsequently cleared to play following an injury scare. Sterling’s season had gotten off to a good start, but after scoring twice against Luton in late August, he had trouble. However, Pochettino received credit for refusing to do so in defiance of his international boss.
After eluding two defenders to reach the byline, Sterling scored the equalizer when his cross bounced off the unfortunate Ameen Al Dakhil’s leg and over the helpless James Trafford. When he attempted to gallop into the box from wide for the second goal, Vitinho halted him before he could get very far. Cole Palmer, who ironically may soon face another England foe, then scored from 12 yards.
This was the Sterling that Southgate had given such great priority on for the most of his tenure as manager of England; a player whose drive could fill in for natural ingenuity on teams lacking it, like Chelsea’s, to penetrate defenses. After the halftime, Conor Gallagher sent him off, and after a scoreless start to his international career, he quickly displayed the finishing touch that had once made him the only reliable scorer for England outside of Harry Kane.
Thanks to Phil Foden’s goal shortly before halftime, Bukayo Saka’s growth into a dependable international scorer, Jude Bellingham’s prolific play for Real Madrid, and Bukayo Saka, Southgate now has more options. But Sterling’s England odyssey won’t have to come to an end just yet if there are a few more days like today.
