Manchester City put in a superb second half display to run out 5-1 winners over Leicester City yesterday. The performance edges them ever closer to their first Premier League title under the guardianship of Pep Guardiola.

Kevin De Bruyne put on a maestro masterclass with some tremendous assists and was rightfully applauded for yet another virtuoso performance. The Belgian’s form hasn’t come as a surprise and I stated before the season started that if he can stay fit this term, then he’d be a shoe in for player of the year.

For me, it was Sergio Aguero’s outing on Saturday that was worth noting.

The Argentine marksman banged in four goals against The Foxes. That was his third league hat-trick of the season.

His goals showed off everything that makes Aguero tick in-front of goal.

He can be that poacher that sticks away the easiest of tap-ins. Or he can drill in thunderous strikes from outside of the penalty area. He has arrow like accuracy and an immaculate first touch that sets up a quick finish. The forward also has the speed and presence of mind to make the most of any mistakes from the opposition.

Guardiola was full of praise for his main striker after the big win:

“We made a good performance and when one guy is able to score four goals, he deserves all the credit and the nice words,” Guardila told a news conference.

“He fought, he played really good and he scored goals and it’s so important, we needed it.”

We shouldn’t be surprised by these goalscoring heroics from the twenty-nine year old. He’s been consistently great in-front of goal since his arrival at the Eithad in 2011.

In the league, Aguero has scored 143 times in just 203 appearances. In all competitions, the striker is just three short of 300 City goals.

He has that instinct to be in the right place at the right time. Yet he can also make chances for himself with the pace to get past defenders. He also has a determination not to carry on and get more and more goals. He’s not happy on the bench or the treatment table, his attitude is to be on the field and to get the goals that win games!

Yet a lot of the talk this season, in terms of goalscorers, has been about Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. Obviously both have also been in tremendous form, Kane leads the Premier League scoring charts with his 23 strikes and Egyptian Salah has whacked in 21 in his debut year at Anfield.

Yet Sergio has managed to score the same as Salah and only two behind free-scoring Kane. In fact, Aguero has a better goals to minutes ratio as he has banged in a goal in every 85 minutes so far this term compared to Kane’s goal every 97 minutes and Mohamed’s one every 93 minutes.

Aguero’s also helped with five league assists.

It seemed very different at the start of the season when many reported that the Argentinian international was ready to leave Manchester with Gabriel Jesus believed to be Pep’s striker of choice.

The Brazilian is certainly a hitman that has the potential to become one of the world’s best but injuries and experience mean that he’s not ready to carry the scoring pressures all on his own, while Sergio is still at his peak.

Guardiola clearly likes Jesus and sees a lot of great things in his future but the Spaniard knows that he needs to keep Sergio Aguero happy as well, as the elder statesman has already proved himself as being one of the best scorers in the world.

The race for the Premier League’s golden boot is hotting up and maybe Aguero won’t win that particular award as he’ll probably be rested more than Salah and Kane but he’ll win the more important team titles and that’s what counts the most.

Never count Sergio Aguero out as class is permanent and the forward has it in spades!

Posted on February 11th, 2018 by scott
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