Guardiola heaps praise on four-goal Aguero

Sergio Aguero deserves "all the credit" for Manchester City's 5-1 demolition of Leicester City on Saturday after he scored four, according to Pep Guardiola.

City went into the game on the back of a disappointing draw with Burnley last time out in the Premier League, with Guardiola subsequently giving his players three days off after a hectic schedule.

And that appeared to work like a charm, as leaders City blew Leicester away at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne caught the eye with three assists, but it was ultimately Aguero who stole the show, scoring four times in an emphatic second-half performance and Guardiola saluted the overall team performance as one of their best since he joined.

"The first half started good with the first goal, but after we were not in right positions to play quicker," Guardiola told reporters.

 

10 February 2018

"We had to be in the positions to play quicker, in the right rhythm. You have to be in the right positions, in first we weren't perfect.

"The second half, it helped a lot to score early and after that we controlled and had a good performance, especially Sergio.

"When one guy scores four he deserves all the credit, he deserves all the nice words. He fought, he played good, scored goals and that's why he's so important to us.

"One of best performances, of course. Five goals in the Premier League, especially against Leicester [makes it impressive]."

The win puts City 16 points clear of Manchester United ahead of their match with Newcastle United on Sunday.

But Guardiola will not get carried away yet, adamant they will only be admired in future if they win the titles they deserve.

He added: "I cannot deny, the distance to the next team [is a lot], 16 [points] now, maybe United win so it's 13, but there's still a lot to play. I don't know what will happen, but so far we have 72 points in February, so it's a lot."

"So far I can only say we're so good. We have to wait for Vincent [Kompany] to lift the titles.

"I'm not going to deny, we have enjoyed these six, seven months, but to be admired we have to lift the titles, but we're in the right way."