Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was delighted with Raheem Sterling's hat-trick for their 5-0 win at Brighton.

Sterling converted two headers, one of which was slightly fortuitous, having opened his account with a precise 20-yard effort and has now scored a career best 27 goals this campaign to leave him four shy of a century for the Club.

Only Sergio Aguero has scored more in the Premier League for City.

“He knows exactly what he has to do," the boss said at his post-match press conference.

“He is a huge competitor. Self-confident, aggressive. He loves to score goals. We have wingers who score goals. This is so important.

“All the credit is for him," Pep added.

“Not just for the three goals, but they are important for what we have ahead of us.

“For his development as a player, because he wants to improve. We are delighted with his performance today."