Sergio Aguero eclipses Premier League records in Manchester City win

Sergio Aguero surpassed two Premier League landmarks in one fell swoop on Sunday. He became the most prolific non-English player since the inception of the division in 1992 and he surpassed Alan Shearer's record for hat-tricks.

Aguero's 12th triple came during Manchester City's 6-1 destruction of Aston Villa. Aguero's first goal brought him level with Thierry Henry - and his next two took him clear of the Frenchman's haul of 175.

"He was a legend and the legend rises," said the Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola of his Argentine striker.

"He is one of the most incredible players I've seen in this league. To score this amount of goals and hat-tricks means you have done for many, many years a lot of good things.

"You have to be consistent for many years so it's an incredible compliment to him."

Haul
Aguero joined Manchester City in 2011 and he reached his mark of 177 in 255 games. Of the goals: 156 have come within the penalty area and 21 have been scored from outside the box. The bulk of the goals have come with the right foot.

"I'm so happy for the record," said the 31-year-old. "It is thanks to my teammates, they help me in these nine years.

"When I scored the second, I thought one more and I break the hat-trick record. I want to keep scoring more goals."

The victory at Villa Park also included a brace from the Algeria international Riyad Mahrez and moved City into second place - 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.

Aston Villa remain in the relegation zone. "It was a chastening experience," said manager Dean Smith. "We are embarrassed by some of the goals we conceded. "We've come up against a top class team with a top class manager and got found out."