Pep Guardiola defended Raheem Sterling's World Cup performances after the England forward got back among the goals in Manchester City's opening 2-0 Premier League win at Arsenal.
Sterling fired the champions into a 14th-minute lead and proved a typical menace for the Gunners' defence to deal with at Emirates Stadium, where Bernardo Silva completed the scoring with an emphatic finish after the hour.
The 23-year-old started six matches for England in their run to the semi-finals of Russia 2018 and although tenacious, intelligent displays won praise in some quarters, Sterling's failure to find the net drew a share of criticism.