Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Sergio Aguero, who scored a record-equalling hat-trick as Manchester City powered back to the top of the Premier League with a sensational 6-0 thrashing of Chelsea.
The prolific Argentinian joined Alan Shearer on 11 Premier League trebles as the champions returned to their ruthless best in a one-sided encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
“Incredible week, incredible game,” said Guardiola afterwards, speaking to Sky Sports. “We are lucky to score three from the first four actions. After 3-0 they were much better than us and after 5-0 it was not easy for them.”
“Chelsea take the ball, play incredible, so that’s why I am very pleased after we played Arsenal, Everton and had a few days to recover.
“To scored six against Chelsea and the way we played, we had so much attention. We did it, it’s an incredible compliment to the players, they are outstanding.
“We spoke this morning, we trained set pieces, trained some movements and I never thought we would score this amount of goals.”
Most of the damage came in a whirlwind opening 25 minutes, with Aguero hitting his first two of the afternoon between strikes from Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan.
That established Aguero as City’s record league goalscorer, surpassing the 158 goals of Eric Brook and Tommy Johnson, and he later extended his tally to 160 by completing his treble from the spot.
“I have said many times, Sergio scores every single season a lot of goals.” continued Guardiola. “I admire these kind of players, the consistency. Young players come but some stay for a long time, that is fantastic.
“Top of the league, we have to wait to see when Liverpool go to Old Trafford as we have played one more game. They win that and they are leaders, with us behind. But I am proud.
“What we did last season, to still be there every single game, that means a lot to me. So 11 games, we are going to try until the end to retain the title.”