Pep Guardiola had nothing but praise for Raheem Sterling as the England international proved a point on Tuesday night.

The attacker scored a quickfire second-half hat-trick as 10-man Manchester City thrashed Atalanta 5-1 to put one foot in the Champions League knockout stages.

“All credit goes to him. If he can be better, it’s perfect. All the credit is just for him. His physicality is incredible, so strong. The day after the game he could play another game. His regeneration is incredible,” Guardiola said.

“He can play both sides, he’s fast, defensively he helps us a lot. He’s an extraordinary, extraordinary player.”

The England forward struck three times in the space of 11 minutes after Sergio Aguero had netted twice to cancel out Ruslan Malinovsky’s penalty opener for the visitors at the Etihad Stadium.

City’s victory lifted them five points clear at the top of Group C with three games still to play after Shakhtar Donetsk salvaged a 2-2 draw with Dinamo Zagreb in the other match.

However, there were a couple of negatives for City as midfielder Phil Foden was sent off for two bookable offences and Rodri hobbled off injured.