CITY 6 HUDDERSFIELD 1
Hat-trick No 9 sets up another City masterclass
FOR all the changes at Manchester City these days, some things really do stay the same. like the ruthlessness of Sergio aguero and the sheer brilliance of David Silva.
at the end of a week in which City again broke new ground with their acclaimed All or Nothing documentary series, it was the two old favourites who led a merciless rout of Huddersfield. aguero left the Etihad clutching the match ball and Silva his baby son.
The Spaniard was simply sublime. Even at the age of 32 and with an international career behind him, Silva remains a mercurial presence in this team.
He above all others will give Pep Guardiola reassurance that Kevin De Bruyne’s three-month absence with a knee injury will not affect the champions too badly.
That was evident in the 48th minute when he stepped into the Belgian’s shoes to score with a wonderful free-kick, having spent the first half picking Huddersfield apart. It all happened in front of eight-month-old Mateo, whom he carried on to the pitch as a mascot before the game and then into the dressing-room afterwards to greet his team-mates.
There must have been times when Silva questioned if this day would come. When his baby was born 15 weeks premature, he was given compassionate leave to miss games and, in one scene from the documentary, Guardiola exhorted his players to win for Silva because ‘he’s f*****g suffering’.
‘last season was a tough moment for all his family,’ said the City boss yesterday. ‘Fortunately the little boy fought a lot and he is here. ‘It’s a special day for him, for us, for David. Of course, he was so motivated because his family, parents, wife, and especially Mateo were here.’
If Silva was the architect of another devastating display then aguero was the engineer.
This was his 13th hat-trick for City and ninth in the Premier league. Only alan Shearer, on 11, has more. No wonder they were first two players summoned to the touchline by Guardiola when he began to make substitutions.
For all the talent at his disposal ( Guardiola was able to put Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, and leroy Sane on the bench here despite De Bruyne’s absence) the City boss knows just how crucial these two still are.
They were the best of a very good bunch that included Benjamin Mendy contributing another three assists from the left flank.
It has to be said that Huddersfield contributed to their own problems, with goalkeeper Ben Hamer’s erratic performance and an unfortunate Terence Kongolo own goal. The only team to prevent Guardiola’s side scoring in the league at home last season could easily have suffered a repeat of their record 10-1 defeat at Maine Road in November 1987.
Paul Stewart, David White and Tony adcock, the three hat-trick scorers from that day, appeared on the pitch before kick- off and would have fancied their chances of scoring in this City team.
They were three ahead inside 35 minutes after making the breakthrough from Huddersfield’s first attempt on goal.
Even keepers are expected to make assists at City these days, and Ederson’s pinpoint goal-kick downfield found aguero one-onone with Christopher Schindler.
For some reason Hamer chose to rush out to the edge of his box and stay there. aware that the goal was now unguarded, aguero wriggled free of Schindler and created enough space for himself to float a lovely chip over both players.
The second goal followed Mendy’s surging run after he nutmegged Tommy Smith. The Huddersfield defender’s perseverance paid off as he got back to tackle the Frenchman, but the ball ran loose for Gabriel Jesus to rifle a shot through the legs of Kongolo and inside Hamer’s near post.
Mendy was involved in City’s third as well when he whipped a cross into the six-yard box. Hamer was under no pressure at all when he came out to gather it, but spilled the ball in front of aguero who stole in ahead of Schindler to score again.
‘He made some mistakes today but it makes no sense after this defeat to point out single players,’ said manager David Wagner.
Huddersfield hit back just before half-time when Steve Mounie flicked on Philip Billing’s throw-in for Jon Stankovic to stab home from close range. No one was fooling themselves that it would be the start of a Huddersfield comeback. Even the boys of ’87 managed one goal. Silva curled a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards into the top corner, aguero completed his hat- trick by converting another cross from Mendy with a lovely touch of the outside of his right boot, and then Kongolo knocked the ball into his own net after Hamer saved from leroy Sane.
It means Huddersfield have conceded nine goals in their first two games against Chelsea and City.
However, having been forced to change his formation and play without aaron Mooy, whose wife is about to give birth, Wagner had feared the worst.
‘We hoped for more but we didn’t expect more,’ he said. ‘Now the season starts for us.’