Sergio Aguero rewrites the record books as City thrash Villa

Super Sergio sets record as Man City slaughter Villa

Sergio Aguero was the star of Manchester City’s 6-1 thrashing of Aston Villa as the defending champions moved above Leicester into second place. The Argentine ace scored the 12th hat-trick of his career against the demoralised hosts, in the process becoming the most prolific overseas goalscorer in Premier League history.

Record breaker

Aguero has now scored more goals than the previous record holder, Arsenal’s former French striker Thierry Henry (175), and his 177 goals have only been bettered by the English trio of Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Andy Cole. But none of them can match Aguero’s tally of 12 hat-tricks, and his treble against Villa contributed to the most emphatic City display in months

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Though they remain 14 points behind Liverpool - who beat Tottenham 1-0 on Saturday evening to maintain their unbeaten season - City have moved above Leicester, who lost 2-1 at home to Southampton.

Happy man

“I am so happy for the record but thank you to my team-mates because they help me,” said Aguero, whose goals came on 27, 58 and 81 minutes. “I want to keep scoring more goals but it all depends on my team-mates.”

Asked if he believes he can surpass Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 260 goals, the 31-year-old Aguero said: “He has too many goals so I don’t know. I will try.”

'One of the best ever'

Aguero’s exploits overshadowed the two goals from the impressive Riyad Mahrez and the strike from Gabriel Jesus, but it was understandable that the Argentine took centre stage on his landmark day. “Sergio is one of the best ever,” said City boss Pep Guardiola. “I am proud to be here when he got the record. He will die scoring goals.”

Guardiola has already declared his belief that the title race is over, and he underlined that view when asked to assess the victory over Villa. “We would have liked to fight against them but for many reasons we could not - forget about it... We are second in the table and for a long time we were not there so we will try and maintain this position.”

How they reacted to Aguero’s record

Man City boss Pep Guardiola: “To score this amount of goals means you have done for many years a lot of good things. He’s been consistent for many years and so we are proud of him.”

Riyad Mahrez: “He’s a legend for the club and Premier League. He shows it every week and I’m very happy to have him in the team.”

Alan Shearer: “Congrats Sergio Aguero. A special day for a special player.”

The Daily Mail: “Sergio Aguero may not end his career as revered worldwide as Messi but few players will be able to look back on what they have achieved with as much satisfaction.”

The Times: ”The little Argentinian stands on the shoulders of giants, a bleach-blond colossus with a cartoon character’s nickname whose oeuvre of clinical excellence bears comparison with the best.”