Raheem Sterling had no “scooby-doo” if he would be given an FA Cup final hat-trick, but cared little after a 6-0 mauling of Watford saw Manchester City make history with a domestic treble.
The Blues entered another outing at Wembley with Carabao Cup and Premier League honours already secured.
No side in English football had ever completed a clean sweep of the trophies available on home soil, but Pep Guardiola’s side have re-written the history books once more.
Watford briefly offered some resistance to the Blues, but the floodgates opened after David Silva broke the deadlock inside 26 minutes.
Sterling then bundled an effort from Gabriel Jesus over the line before half-time, before adding two more efforts to his tally after the break.
The first-half goal has now officially been credited to Sterling, following some debate as to whether the England international crashed home from on the line or beyond it, but the 24-year-old was not overly concerned about whether he could now be considered the fourth man to have netted a treble in the FA Cup final immediately after the final whistle.
Quizzed on whether the goal was his, Sterling told BBC Sport: “I don’t have a scooby-doo. The boys did brilliant. My goals added to the win. It was brilliant from everyone.
“I grew up here and saw this stadium get built. It’s a massive dream come true to win trophies here.”
4 – Raheem Sterling is the fourth player to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup final, after William Townley for Blackburn in 1890, Jimmy Logan for Notts County in 1894 and Stan Mortensen for Blackpool in 1953. Monumental. #MCIWAT #facupfinal
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 18, 2019
On what three more pieces of silverware mean to a relentless City side that have embraced the winning mentality of Guardiola, Sterling added: “It shows what the manager is building here.
“He said we needed to get the mentality right and we did that and did it exceptionally well.
“It’s been a long season with the World Cup as well but everyone has been on their A-game and come through.”
City skipper Vincent Kompany was the man to get his hands on the oldest trophy in the English game.
It could be that another celebration marks the end of his time with the Blues, with the Belgian yet to be offered an extension to an expiring contract.
Whatever happens from this point, the long-serving 33-year-old is proud of everything that he and City have been able to achieve in recent years.
He said: “As soon as we scored the two goals it opened up the game for us and we were able to make more chances.
“It wasn’t as easy as the score makes it look. But what a season, what a tremendous club.
“It started with the manager, he sets the standard at the start of the season and said we had to go back to back [in the Premier League].
“It’s the best team in the world for me. To set such a high standard for so long – not just for one year but two years running now. What a club, what a privilege.”
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