Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea: Sergio Ageuro hat-trick helps Pep Guardiola's side go back to the top of the Premier League table
A Sergio Aguero hat-trick was part of a six-goal blitz from Manchester City as they destroyed Chelsea to stamp their authority on the Premier League title race.
Maurizio Sarri sent his Chelsea team out to press and try to go toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola's champions, but it backfired spectacularly as they found themselves 4-0 down after 25 minutes, and they can count themselves lucky not to have conceded more than six.
Raheem Sterling started and finished the scoring, with Aguero bagging a hat-trick in between and Ilkay Gundogan adding the fourth with a first-half effort from outside the box.
The result means City top the Premier League above Liverpool on goal difference entering a break in Premier League action - with the Reds' next game coming at Manchester United in a couple of weeks as City play in the Carabao Cup final.
Fast start at the Etihad
City only needed four minutes to break the deadlock as Bernardo Silva found space on the right side of the penalty area and played a low cross which took a slight deflection off David Luiz, but fell into the path of Sterling to smash home.
Aguero should have doubled the hosts' advantage in the ninth minute but the striker somehow missed from two yards when unmarked at the far post after Silva found him with another drilled cross.
However, he soon made amends to put City into a 2-0 lead in the 13th minute with a superb effort from 25 yards out to equal City's league goal record with his 158th strike for the club.
"He's a player that we depend on. Players like this you've got to cherish."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 10, 2019
Raheem Sterling on man of the match Sergio Aguero.
Watch reaction to #MCFC vs #CFC live now on Sky Sports PL or follow online here: https://t.co/Z6Xe65fKpa pic.twitter.com/mECREsLJhN
Aguero then took the record outright when he pounced on a loose header from Ross Barkley, intended for Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, and turned in from close range to put City 3-0 up after just 19 minutes.
Guardiola's side were 4-0 ahead inside 25 minutes when Gundogan rifled home a first-time effort from 20 yards, which found the bottom corner.
Aguero completes hat-trick
Aguero rattled the crossbar early in the second half, but moved level with Alan Shearer for the most Premier League hat-tricks after Sterling was brought down in the penalty area by Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta.
The Argentinian striker stroked the spot-kick into the bottom corner for his 11th hat-trick in the Premier League and 15th for City in all competitions.
The scoring did not stop there as Sterling grabbed his second when he finished Oleksandr Zinchenko's low driven cross from close range with 10 minutes remaining to increase the lead to 6-0.
Man City 6-0 Chelsea Opta stats
- Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero scored his 11th Premier League hat-trick, equalling the record set by Alan Shearer.
- Chelsea suffered their heaviest defeat in any competition since losing 0-7 to Nottingham Forest in a top-flight match in April 1991.
- Sergio Aguero has scored eight Premier League goals for Man City in 2019 – double that of any other player in the competition and more than 11 other Premier League clubs have managed, including Chelsea (seven).
- Sergio Aguero has scored a hat-trick in his last three Premier League games at the Etihad in the month of February for Man City – four v Leicester in 2018, three v Arsenal in 2019 and three v Chelsea.
- Chelsea conceded four goals in consecutive away top-flight matches for the first time since December 1990.
- Manchester City were the first Premier League team to be 4-0 up inside 25 minutes of a match since Arsenal in January 2018 against Crystal Palace (4-0 after 22 minutes).
- Only Fulham (15) have conceded more Premier League goals during 2019 than Chelsea (13).
- Manchester City became the first top-flight team since Tottenham Hotspur in December 1965 to score more than once in 15 consecutive home league matches.
- Since losing consecutive Premier League matches against Crystal Palace and Leicester City, Man City have won more games (7), scored more goals (23) and won more points (21) than any other Premier League side.
- Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri suffered his heaviest ever league defeat as a manager, with this the first time he’d seen one of his teams concede more than four goals in a match.
- Man City’s Sergio Aguero has become the fifth player to score hat-tricks in consecutive home Premier League games and the first since Didier Drogba in August 2010.
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