Pep Guardiola praises Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling and aims jibe at Arsene Wenger

Guardiola took the chance to respond to Wenger's claim that Sterling 'dives well'

Pep Guardiola celebrates Raheem Sterling's winning goal (Getty)

Pep Guardiola took a swipe at Arsene Wenger amid his praise of Raheem Sterling, who played a crucial role in Manchester City’s comeback win at Huddersfield on Sunday.

Sterling won a second-half penalty before scoring a late winner in the 2-1 victory over Huddersfield, three weeks after he was accused by the Arsenal manager of “diving well” to win a spot-kick against the Gunners.

“Maybe Arsene will say that is a penalty,” Guardiola said of the first goal. “The penalty is more than clear. I’m impressed. He’s young and he can improve. If he wants to learn then we’ll be there to help him.”

Sterling has been in sensational form this season, with a Premier League tally of eight goals bettered only by Mohamed Salah (10), Harry Kane (9) and his team-mate Sergio Aguero (9). And Guardiola has been impressed with more than just goalscoring.

“It is not just about scoring goals, he is now strong and keeping the ball. I am impressed but he is still 22 years old, he can do a lot of things to improve and if he wants to learn we will be there to help him.”

The victory saw City preserve their unbeaten record from 13 league games this season, having won 12 and drawn one, but Guardiola played down talk of his side going through the entire season unbeaten.

“I was not talking about winning, losing or drawing the game, I’m talking about not giving up, being positive all the time, being focused on what we have to do.

Raheem Sterling scored the winning goal with time running out (Getty)

“We are not going to finish (the season) unbeaten, it is impossible. Because there are games every three days and you have to play a lot of games like this.

“But to fight to avoid that, mentally, and in the way we want to play, is fantastic. We deserved to win because we created more chances and we dominated."