Another game, another goal. It’s hardly something too special when you’re Sergio Aguero. As the Argentine finished off a brilliant move to give Manchester City the win over Manchester United yesterday, there was a sense of immense deja vu around the place. In his last home game, he had netted 4. This time, despite not being as deadly as that, he once again proved to be the difference.
Aguero’s scoring record over the past year has been nothing short of incredible. Despite having several injury problems and being in Luis Suarez’s shadow last season, he scored 17 times in 23 appearances in the league, playing a vital role as Manuel Pellegrini’s men won the title. He netted 28 times in all competitions, including 6 in 6 in the Champions League.
This season, he has got off to a flying start. Yesterday’s winner against United was his 10th goal in the league, making him the first player in the division to reach that number. Earlier on in October, he surpassed Carlos Tevez to become City’s highest ever scorer in the league, despite having being at the Etihad for only three-and-a-half seasons so far.
At times when City have looked out-of-sorts and jaded, it is Aguero who has bailed them out by scoring with even the slightest whiff of a chance. He is just as good with either foot, and for a man who’s only 5 feet 8 inches tall, scores a good number of headers too. His movement in the box is exquisite, and there hardly passes a game where he doesn’t get on the end of a clear goalscoring opportunity.
With Suarez’s departure to Barcelona in the summer, the competition for Aguero has slimmed down. His closest challenger to the Golden Boot this year is Chelsea’s Diego Costa, who has had a superb start to life in England and has netted 9 times in 8 appearances. Whether he can maintain his form throughout the season though, remains to be seen.
Surprisingly, Aguero has never won the Golden Boot thus far. His first season, the 2011-12 campaign, ended in the most incredible fashion imaginable, as he won the title for City with the last kick of the last game of the season. That strike, his 23rd league goal of the season, is widely acknowledged as the most dramatic moment in the history of the Premier League. Despite that, he was beaten to the top-scorer’s gong by Robin Van Persie. This was followed by two injury-plagued years.
This campaign, Yaya Toure has looked a shadow of his self from last season an has struggled to find any sort of form whatsoever. David Silva has been brilliant, but once again, it is Aguero who has been key. It can safely be said that for City to have any chance of challenging Chelsea for the title, it is imperative that the Argentine remains fit for most parts.
At only 26, Aguero is well on course to becoming one of the Premier League’s all-time greats. He has a goals-per-minute average better than any other player from the past, and if he continues at the current rate, there is no player that he cannot overtake in the future.
There is no doubt about the fact that in his current form, Sergio Aguero is absolutely unstoppable. He is the Premier League’s leading marksman, the best striker by a country mile.
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