Raheem Sterling hits hat-trick in easy Manchester City win at Norwich

Pep Guardiola may outwardly fear a title fight but that would require Manchester City to make a misstep. They have taken 43 points from the last 45 and, while Norwich revealed hints of fallibility early on, this was as comfortable as most of the victories that came before it.

A hat-trick from Raheem Sterling, including a sublime opener and a late penalty rebound, was supplemented by Phil Foden, and City could have scored more. Norwich’s survival bid will neither stand nor fall on nights like this, but Dean Smith may wonder how things would have developed if Grant Hanley’s header had not struck the post with the score goalless.

Smith had proclaimed Norwich to be “in the fight” after taking seven points from three games; any positive result here would add potency to the idea and the Canaries could recall that, on City’s most recent visit, in September 2019, they heroically won 3-2. Kenny McLean and Teemu Pukki were the only survivors in Smith’s starting lineup, and as it happened, both players had scored that afternoon.

When Pukki warmed Ederson’s palms from an angle in the 10th minute, profiting from an enterprising run by Brandon Williams, it was a reminder Norwich were capable of baring their teeth. They had lived dangerously until then, surviving by a whisker when Bernardo Silva cut inside from the right and snaked a shot against Angus Gunn’s far post.

Ilkay Gündogan then headed straight at the goalkeeper from a position that promised better, allowing a comfortable save when Oleksandr Zinchenko found him unmarked.

Quickly enough, this became a good game. City dominated, as anyone might expect, Gündogan and Silva flashing across deliveries that narrowly evaded onrushing feet. But they looked vulnerable to Norwich’s