Aguero hat trick beats Arsenal
City striker gives it all, head to toe, in easy win against timid opponent
LONDON— As hat tricks go, Sergio Aguero’s 14th for Manchester City was unconventionally perfect.
It involved three different ways of scoring against Arsenal: A header, a right-footed tap-in and, finally, a nudge with the left arm.
“I honestly thought it was my chest,” Aguero said after City’s 3-1 Premier League victory on Sunday. “But now I have seen it on the TV, it was handball.”
Good fortune, maybe. But Aguero was displaying the fortitude to get himself in the penalty area in the right place, at the right time. Just the attacking prowess and nous that Arsenal was lacking, with two strikers — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette — who could only muster one shot between them at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
It explains why City is back up to second place, two points behind Liverpool, which plays at West Ham on Monday night. And it also explains why Arsenal has dropped to sixth, allowing Manchester United to rise to fifth for the first time since the opening weekend of the season after beating Leicester 1-0 in Sunday’s other game.
Having scored 24 seconds into Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at Newcastle, Aguero had to wait a little bit longer against Arsenal. But not that much — only 48 seconds — as he put City in front.
Arsenal conceded possession on the edge of the penalty area when Alex Iwobi lost the ball. And with Aguero left unmarked and primed in front of goal, Aymeric Laporte whipped in a cross the Argentine met with a downward header.
Unlike at St. James’ Park, City was encountering a more timid opponent. The lead was restored in the 44th minute when Ilkay Gundogan chipped the ball to Raheem Sterling, who diverted it across the penalty area for Aguero to sweep over the line.
Sterling also created Aguero’s third. Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno got a touch to Sterling’s cross from the left, but only to send the ball bouncing off Aguero’s arm as he slid in for the connection.
With a 10th hat trick in the Premier League alone, Aguero is only one behind the retired Alan Shearer’s record.
Aguero has a special place in City history having scored the stoppage time goal that delivered the Abu Dhabi-owned team’s first Premier League title in 2012. The goals on Sunday provide renewed hope that the defending champions can still try to knock Liverpool from top spot and win a fourth title in seven years.
“We wanted to get back on track,” Aguero said, “playing good football.”
Man United has been resurgent under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but with no change in the standings — until now.
Thanks to Arsenal’s loss, a seventh triumph in eight Premier League games under Solskjaer moved United above the London club into fifth place. When Jose Mourinho was fired in December, United trailed fourth-placed Chelsea by 11 points. Now United is only two behind Chelsea in the final Champions League place.