Sergio Aguero is a goalscoring machine.
[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]
The Argentine striker recorded his 10th hat trick for Manchester City on Saturday as Pep Guardiola’s men battered Watford 6-0 at Vicarage Road to go top of the Premier League table.
Starting up front with Gabriel Jesus, Aguero ghosted in three times to finish off flowing Man City moves -- which were started time and again by Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva at the heart of their diamond formation in midfield -- and the 29-year-old now has 175 goals in 259 games in all competitions for Man City as he continues to motor towards the 200 mark with six goals in six games to start the season.
Last weekend he became the highest-scoring non-European player in Premier League history while only Alan Shearer (11), Robbie Fowler (9), Thierry Henry and Michael Owen (8) have scored more hat tricks in the PL than his six.
Speaking after the game, Aguero was typically nonchalant after another deadly display of finishing.
Even if Aguero was modest, his teammates summed up his brilliance with Ilkay Gundogan calling him a “goal machine” and his last goal “incredible” while Raheem Sterling put it perfectly: “Give Sergio Aguero a chance and nine times out of 10 he’ll score.”
8 – Sergio Aguero has scored in 8 consecutive away @premierleague starts, only Robin van Persie (9) has embarked upon a longer run. Streak.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 16, 2017
By now we all know about Aguero’s brilliance but the lingering notion that he may not get into City’s starting lineup ahead of Gabriel Jesus this season has well and truly been shelved. The duo have starred up front together in recent weeks and Aguero, for the second game running, set up Jesus for a goal as the South American duo tore Watford’s defense apart.
Guardiola applauded Aguero and the way his team played as City are living up to their tag as the preseason favorites to win the Premier League.
They’ve now scored 15 goals in their past three PL games and 19 in their last four games in all competitions after they thumped Feyenoord 4-0 in Rotterdam on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League.
“It was so good. Especially after an away game in the Champions League. The way we played as a team, we are so happy,” Guardiola said. “I was lucky to manage Barcelona with many outstanding performances but this week has been a lot of goals. We have found our game, we can make short passes and we have a lot of energy from our full-backs.”
However, Guardiola did have one issue with Aguero. Seriously, he did.
In the 89th minute City were awarded a penalty kick after Sterling went down but Aguero let the England winger take the spot kick even though Guardiola wanted the Argentine to grab his fourth goal of the game.
“The people who come from the bench always give us something new. Clean sheets are a consequence of you controlling the game,” Guardiola said. “You have to be serious until the end, goal difference could be important but it is Sergio Aguero’s decision [to give the penalty to Raheem Sterling.]”
Your boatloads of goals can’t always please everyone, Sergio...
