Raheem Sterling promised to keep working on his finishing after firing Manchester City to a 5-1 win over Bournemouth with the first hat-trick of his career.

The £49million summer signing has been criticised for his lack of potency in front of goal but he rose to the challenge in the absence of Sergio Aguero with a superb display against the promoted Cherries.

Wilfried Bony also struck twice as the Barclays Premier League leaders eased to a comfortable victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Sterling, who also scored for England during the recent international break, said: "It's my first hat-trick and I'm delighted. I definitely work on my finishing. I get a quite lot of chances and it's something I'll keep working on and hopefully get better at.

"Most importantly though, I'm happy that the team got the three points. I think we played some good stuff at times and I'm really happy with the three points."
Manager Manuel Pellegrini also backed the 20-year-old, whose goal tally for the club now stands at five, to continue improving.

Pellegrini said: "I think it was important for Raheem to score three goals. He must improve his finishing - he did that today. He's young and will continue to get better."

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said the struggling English champions will stick to their back-to-basics approach after a hard-fought 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday in which Eden Hazard started on the bench.