Sergio Aguero scored his second hat-trick in the space of a week as Manchester City thumped Chelsea 6-0 in Sunday’s Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
The Argentina international scored two of City’s four goals in the opening 25 minutes and then rounded off his 11th Prem treble before the hour, equalling Alan Shearer’s long-standing record for the number of hat-tricks.
Raheem Sterling started the scoring early on and rounded it off at the end, while Ilkay Gundogan was also on target for the Citizens as they cruised to a win that lifts them back above Liverpool on goal difference, albeit having played a game more than their title rivals.
It took a little under four minutes for City to make the breakthrough, catching their opponents out with a quick free kick.
Kevin De Bruyne released Bernardo Silva down the right and the Portuguese’s cutback deflected off David Luiz into the path of an unmarked Raheem Sterling, who thumped the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga from 10 yards.
Then, shortly after being guilty of a miss of the season contender when failing to convert from three yards at the back post, Sergio Aguero guided the ball past Kepa from 20 yards further back.
Chelsea were again the victims of their own downfall for City’s third as Luiz half-cleared the ball to Ross Barkley, who headed it back to where it came from.
Aguero pounced and sent a first-time shot past a stranded Kepa to all but seal the points for the champions with less than a quarter of the game played.
The fourth goal would arrive soon after, again following some sloppy defending as Aguero and Sterling exchanged passes in the box, before Antonio Rudiger cleared the ball to Ilkay Gundogan to curl the ball into the net from outside the box.
Aguero struck the crossbar with a header, but he made no mistake from the penalty spot after Cesar Azpilicueta hacked down Sterling to score his landmark hat-trick.
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