Raheem Sterling has praised Manchester City for beating a "tough" AS Monaco side in Tuesday night's 5-3 Champions League last-16 first leg at the Etihad Stadium, but admits that his side need to "tighten up at the back".

In a game where Sergio Aguero and Radamel Falcao both scored twice, the hosts bagged three goals in the final 20 minutes to establish a healthy advantage ahead of the return game in Monte Carlo.

Sterling, who opened the scoring 26 minutes in, told BT Sport: "It was good to be a part of. It was end to end stuff and Monaco gave us a tough game and pushed us all the way. We got the win and that's the most important thing today.

"It's always difficult to go down but the boys did really well. We played our football and stuck to our game and it worked out in the end. At the end of the day we need to tighten up at the back as well."

Man City's win means that Monaco will have to score at least twice in the return leg at the Stade Louis II on March 15 to have any chance of reaching the last eight.