English Premier League
Result: Manchester City 5-1 Leicester City
Date: 10 February 2018
Venue: Etihad
Four goals from Sergio Agüero saw Manchester City to a 5-1 win over Leicester City in Saturday night’s Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium, moving them 16 points clear of Manchester United at the top.
The hosts got the game off to the perfect start when Kevin de Bruyne’s early cross picked out Raheem Sterling, who slotted home the opener from close range in the third minute.
However, they shot themselves in the foot a quarter of the way through the match. Nicolás Otamendi’s poor pass was intercepted by Jamie Vardy, who avoided challenges from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ilkay Gündogan, raced away, and slotted the ball past Ederson for the equaliser.
Manchester City’s best opportunity to regain the lead in the first half came when de Bruyne played Sterling in behind the defence 40 minutes in. The former Liverpool winger took the ball round Kasper Schmeichel, but Aleksandar Dragovic was there to turn his shot wide of goal.
However, Pep Guardiola’s side started the second half as they did the first. De Bruyne’s low ball across the face of goal from the left found Agüero at the far post, leaving him to tap in Manchester City’s second goal in the 48th minute.
Five minutes later, Agüero scored his second. Kasper Schmeichel’s poor clearance led to a Manchester City attack. Once again, de Bruyne teed up the Argentine for the finish.
If that was a gift from the keeper, the goal that clinched the hat-trick would have left Agüero feeling like Christmas had come 10 months early. The striker intercepted a Schmeichel pass before chipping the ball over him to secure the hat-trick and the three points.
The goal which put the cherry on top came from a far less straightforward shot. The Argentine blasted the ball into the net off the underside of the crossbar in the 90th minute to cap a remarkable performance.
