Topics: FA Cup, Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Raheem Sterling
The 24-year-old winger has revealed the motive behind the gesture which resulted in pupils of his former school coming to Wembley.

Raheem Sterling has explained the reason behind his decision to purchase 550 tickets for pupils of his old school to watch his Manchester City side beat Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 in the FA Cup semi final played at Wembley.

The Citizens endured a tough test on Saturday afternoon against a side but Gabriel Jesus' 4th-minute strike proved decisive at the end of the proceeding. While the Etihad outfit constantly tried to breakdown their opponent's defense, it had pupils from London's Ark Elvin Academy in the stadium cheering the players on, thanks to Raheem Sterling. 

Having interacted with some of the students in Manchester during the week, the England international explained that his inability to go to the stadium due to his family's finances motivated him to give the children the experience he missed out on. The former Liverpool winger arrived in London with his single mother at the age of five following the murder of his father in Jamaica three years earlier.

"Growing up in Wembley, when there were games on I was never able to step into the stadium until I got a free ticket," he told the BBC.

"I saw the Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United and that was a turning point in my life. "I wanted to give them the same opportunity."

Sterling, who has been in top form of Manchester City this season, also commended Brighton for giving his side a match befitting of a semi-final.

"Brighton were brilliant, they stayed in the game and caused us problems from set-pieces. We showed spirit to hold on," he added.

"We have some huge games to come, we look forward to the next one at Spurs on Tuesday and focus solely on that."

Raheem Sterling and his teammates await the winner of the other FA Cup semi final fixture between Wolves and Watford ahead of the final in May 18. In a relatively development, the England forward was labeled as an "an iconic British sports star" and "a trailblazer" after being named sportsman of the year at the 2019 British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards.

He landed the honor for repeatedly speaking out against racism in football in recent times and was presented with his award at a ceremony held in London on Saturday.