Sergio Aguero cemented his status as Premier League legend as the Manchester City striker made his way into the history books yet again after smashing a hat-trick against Aston Villa on Sunday.
It may be too late to salvage City’s defence of the Premier League title as they remain 14 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand, but led by Aguero the champions moved ahead of Leicester into second to show they will not give up the chase.
Very very happy about this victory, and it's truly moving to reach new milestones — standing alongside legends like @ThierryHenry, FrankLampard and @AlanShearer pic.twitter.com/KzlKpRtZ6C
— Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) January 12, 2020
Aguero surpassed Arsenal great Thierry Henry’s record as the top-scoring non-English player in the Premier League by taking his tally to 177 goals.
Premier League's top 10 overseas goalscorers
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Sergio Aguero | 177 |
| Thierry Henry | 176 |
| Robin Van Persie | 144 |
| Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | 129 |
| Nicolas Anelka | 126 |
| Robbie Keane | 125 |
| Dwight Yorke | 122 |
| Romelu Lukaku | 113 |
| Ryan Giggs | 109 |
| Didier Drogba | 104 |
Aguero also surpassed Alan Shearer’s league record for hat-tricks with his 12th since joining City from Atletico Madrid in 2011. Despite achieving another monumental feat, he remains 83 goals behind Alan Shearer, who tops the goal-scoring charts in the Premier League.
However, Aguero is only behind to Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney (183) to have scored more goals for a single club.
Premier League's top 10 leading scorers
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Alan Shearer | 260 |
| Wayne Rooney | 208 |
| Andrew Cole | 187 |
| Sergio Aguero | 177 |
| Frank Lampard | 177 |
| Thierry Henry | 175 |
| Robbie Fowler | 163 |
| Jermaine Defoe | 162 |
| Michael Owen | 150 |
| Les Ferdinand | 149 |
“I’m so happy for the record. It is thanks to my teammates, they help me in these nine years,” said Aguero after netting a hat-trick against Villa. “When I scored the second, I thought one more [and] I break the hat-trick record. I want to keep scoring more goals,” he added.
Aguero’s efforts in the three-and-a-half seasons that Guardiola has been in charge at the Etihad have been all the more impressive given many thought the Argentina international would not fit into the Catalan manager’s demanding style of play.
Brazilian Gabriel Jesus was seen as an immediate successor to Aguero but the veteran had other ideas and, after leading City to their first Premier League title in 2012, has been a central figure during the most successful years in the club’s history.
(with AFP inputs)