Raheem Sterling handed his Man of the Match award after the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Oxford to Taylor Harwood-Bellis, as shown in a video by Football Daily.
The England winger, who captained City on the night said the young-defender did “brilliantly” and claimed he was more deserving of the award.
A great gesture from the 25-year-old and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the club’s supporters, with many applauding their star for his generosity on Twitter.
Was Raheem Sterlings gesture just a PR stunt?
Yes
No
Raheem is pure class.
— Pete Cohen (@peteilc) December 19, 2019
What a great touch well done raheem true professional ??????
— david (@david07175374) December 19, 2019
@sterling7 Class
— alan (@penheiro53) December 19, 2019
Class ??
— OJO (@ojo_niyi) December 20, 2019
Fantastic gesture and something the lad will never forget I`m sure. Nice one
— MrCheesecake (@tonyjoh89753468) December 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/antwalton01/status/1207768173220704257
What do we think?
A man of the match award in the Carabao Cup may have been something of a formality for a player of Sterling’s experience but for Harwood-Bellis to be passed the award by one of the club’s most influential players will have done his confidence the world of good.
Sterling’s off-the-field behaviour divides opinion and he’s often been the subject of harsh criticism in the tabloids but this was truly a class act. His critics will claim it was nothing more than a PR stunt but, regardless of what people believe his motives are, it’s something the young defender will never forget.