Champs humiliate Chelsea
Aguero leads way with hat-trick as west London club suffer worst defeat in 28 years
Sergio Aguero is scoring for fun, and even referee Mike Dean got in on the japes. Only Chelsea had nothing to smile about after a 6-0 humiliation at Manchester City yesterday.
Scoring a hat-trick for a second successive Monday in the Premier League meant Aguero was owed another match ball.
Not that Dean made it easy for Aguero to collect the ball. Certainly not as easy as Chelsea allowed the Argentine tone ta competition equal ling 11 th treble.
Spotting Aguero after the final whistle, Dean tucked the bright yellow ball up the back of his black referee’s jersey. Feigning ignorance about the location of the ball, Dean shrugged his shoulders before retrieving it from under his top for a beaming Aguero.
This was a day of misery for Chelsea — the west London club’s heaviest loss in 28 years — but one for both City and Dean to flaunt their flamboyance.
When it came to awarding the penalty that allowed Aguero to complete his hat-trick — after spotting Cesar Azpilicueta’s foul on Raheem Sterling — Dean pointed exuberantly at the spot while jumping dramatically to end up in a pose with his legs outstretched in a squat.
With Raheem Sterling scoring twice and Ilkay Gundogan also netting, Chelsea had nothing to enjoy in this latest embarrassment on the road. As defending champions City reclaimed top spot from Liverpool on goal difference, Chelsea slipped to sixth, coming on the back of a 2-0 loss at Arsenal and 4-0 collapse at Bournemouth in away games.
With Maurizio Sarri hired after Antonio Conte failed to make the top four last season, the prospect of another season out of the Champions League is likely to imperil the prospects of another Chelsea manager.
“My job is always at risk, so I am not worried about the club — you have to ask the club,” Sarri said.
“Something is changing. At the moment, I am not able to see the reason, but I have to work for this because my target is to play my football, not to change [to] another football because at the moment we are playing another football.”
Silverware could still be collected in two weeks. Standing between Chelsea and the League Cup is City in the final on February 24 at Wembley.
English football’s national stadium remains Tottenham’s temporary home, where they beat Leicester 3-1 in yesterday’s other game.
It strengthened the north London club’s hold on third and left Mauricio Pochettino’s side only five points behind City and Liverpool.
City have played a game more than Tottenham and Liverpool, who beat Bournemouth 3-0 on Sunday.
Since a shock loss at Newcastle, Pep Guardiola’s side have now won three games in eight days.
“After Newcastle, we spoke to each other and put ourselves in front of a mirror, and accepted the reality,” Guardiola said. “After that, we worked, moved forward.”
Chelsea were unpicked after only four minutes. Kevin De Bruyne released Bernardo Silva, who cut back for Sterling to strike into the net.
Before beginning his hat-trick, Aguero uncharacteristically missed the target from close range.
“I told him not to do it again,” Guardiola said. “But, after, his reaction was a little bit better.”
And Aguero went some way to erase memories of the miss — unleashing a powerful shot that flew in from 25m in the 13th minute.
“Out of nothing,” Sterling said, “he can put the ball in the top corner and players like this, you have got to cherish.”
Aguero was on target again within six minutes. Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley inexplicably headed a clearance back towards danger and Aguero pounced by shooting on the turn.
After Antonio Rudiger’s poor clearance, Gundogan slotted the fourth in the 25th minute before Aguero netted the penalty that completed his 15th City hat-trick in all competitions in the 56th.
Sterling’s tap-in after being picked out by Oleksandr Zinchenko in the 80th completed Chelsea’s heaviest defeat since a 7-0 thrashing by Nottingham Forest in 1991.
Even without injured Harry Kane, Tottenham are reeling off victories. It’s now four out of four in the league without their top scorer. But the 3-1 scoreline against Leicester didn’t reflect the nerviness for Tottenham.
Davison Sanchez headed in the Spurs opener in the 33rd from Christian Eriksen’s cross. But on the hour, Leicester were awarded a penalty when defender Jan Vertonghen knocked over James Maddison.
Jamie Vardy, having been dropped from the starting 11, was summoned from the bench only to miss the spot kick with his first touch.
Eriksen then doubled Tottenham’s lead inside three minutes. Vardy pulled one back but as Leicester pressed for an equaliser, Son Heungmin scored from a breakaway in the first minute of stoppage time.