SERGIO AGUERO BECAME Manchester City’s all-time record scorer as Pep Guardiola’s side booked their ticket to the Champions League last-16 with a 4-2 win at Group F rivals Napoli on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Argentine beat the old mark of 177 set by Eric Brook during the 1930s when he netted City’s third goal in Naples after 69 minutes.
The Premier League leaders had needed just a point to seal their berth in the knockout rounds for the fifth consecutive year, with two games to go.
City’s fourth victory out of four in Group F confirmed their progress with 12 points.
Napoli are third, six points behind Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk who beat Dutch side Feyenoord 3-1.
City fought back despite a dominant early display from the Serie A leaders in their San Paolo Stadium stronghold.
Lorenzo Insigne had opened for Napoli after 21 minutes with defender Nicolas Otamendi pulling City level on 35 minutes.
City’s John Stones edged the visitors ahead three minutes after the break. But to the delight of the home crowd Jorginho converted a penalty to make it 2-2 after 62 minutes.
Aguero then fired in the third seven minutes later after Leroy Sane broke up the pitch. The ball eventually fell to the Argentine who scored his record-breaking goal before Raheem Sterling put the icing on the cake in injury time.
Guardiola made two changes from last weekend’s Premier League 3-2 win at West Brom with starts for Ilkay Gundogan and Danilo.
Advertisement
Dries Mertens, Jorginho, Allan and Marek Hamsik started for Napoli as they looked to avenge their 2-1 loss in Manchester two weeks ago.
Napoli started brightly in front of their home fans with captain Hamsik and Mertens both having early shots on goal but Ederson cleared.
But Insigne sent the crowd wild when he picked up a brilliant Mertens cross to fire past Ederson.
Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli suffered a blow when Faouzi Ghoulam hobbled off with a knee injury midway through the first half with Christian Maggio coming on.
The hosts were clearly shaken by the Algerian defender’s departure. Aguero went close for City with a deflected shot but defender Otamendi quickly headed in the equaliser after 34 minutes.
Stones powered in a header after 48 minutes for a 2-1 lead but Jorginho levelled from the spot just after the hour from the penalty spot when Sane upended Raul Albiol.
Record-breaker Aguero was replaced later on by Bernardo Silva as Napoli brought on Marko Rog.
Sterling got the fourth in the dying minutes of the game following a Kevin De Bruyne cross as Napoli suffered their first loss at home to a Premier League team.
Results in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday:
Group E
Liverpool (ENG) 3 (Salah 49, Can 64, Sturridge 90) Maribor (SLO) 0
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
28 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Sergio Aguero breaks record as 4-star Man City progress with two games to spare
SERGIO AGUERO BECAME Manchester City’s all-time record scorer as Pep Guardiola’s side booked their ticket to the Champions League last-16 with a 4-2 win at Group F rivals Napoli on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Argentine beat the old mark of 177 set by Eric Brook during the 1930s when he netted City’s third goal in Naples after 69 minutes.
The Premier League leaders had needed just a point to seal their berth in the knockout rounds for the fifth consecutive year, with two games to go.
City’s fourth victory out of four in Group F confirmed their progress with 12 points.
Napoli are third, six points behind Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk who beat Dutch side Feyenoord 3-1.
City fought back despite a dominant early display from the Serie A leaders in their San Paolo Stadium stronghold.
Lorenzo Insigne had opened for Napoli after 21 minutes with defender Nicolas Otamendi pulling City level on 35 minutes.
City’s John Stones edged the visitors ahead three minutes after the break. But to the delight of the home crowd Jorginho converted a penalty to make it 2-2 after 62 minutes.
Aguero then fired in the third seven minutes later after Leroy Sane broke up the pitch. The ball eventually fell to the Argentine who scored his record-breaking goal before Raheem Sterling put the icing on the cake in injury time.
Guardiola made two changes from last weekend’s Premier League 3-2 win at West Brom with starts for Ilkay Gundogan and Danilo.
Dries Mertens, Jorginho, Allan and Marek Hamsik started for Napoli as they looked to avenge their 2-1 loss in Manchester two weeks ago.
Napoli started brightly in front of their home fans with captain Hamsik and Mertens both having early shots on goal but Ederson cleared.
But Insigne sent the crowd wild when he picked up a brilliant Mertens cross to fire past Ederson.
Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli suffered a blow when Faouzi Ghoulam hobbled off with a knee injury midway through the first half with Christian Maggio coming on.
The hosts were clearly shaken by the Algerian defender’s departure. Aguero went close for City with a deflected shot but defender Otamendi quickly headed in the equaliser after 34 minutes.
Stones powered in a header after 48 minutes for a 2-1 lead but Jorginho levelled from the spot just after the hour from the penalty spot when Sane upended Raul Albiol.
Record-breaker Aguero was replaced later on by Bernardo Silva as Napoli brought on Marko Rog.
Sterling got the fourth in the dying minutes of the game following a Kevin De Bruyne cross as Napoli suffered their first loss at home to a Premier League team.
Results in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday:
Group E
Liverpool (ENG) 3 (Salah 49, Can 64, Sturridge 90) Maribor (SLO) 0
Sevilla (ESP) 2 (Lenglet 30, Banega 59) Spartak Moscow (RUS) 1 (Ze Luis 78)
Group F
Napoli (ITA) 2 (Insigne 21, Jorginho 62-pen) Manchester City (ENG) 4 (Otamendi 34, Stones 48, Aguero 69, Sterling 90+2)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 3 (Ferreyra 15, Marlos 17, 68) Feyenoord (NED) 1 (Jorgensen 13)
Group G
Besiktas 1 (Cenk Tosun 54-pen) Monaco 1 (Lopes 45+1)
Porto (POR) 3 (Herrera 13, Pereira 61, Maxi Pereira 90+3) RB Leipzig (GER) 1 (Werner 48)
Group H
Borussia Dortmund (GER) 1 (Guerreiro 29) APOEL Nicosia (CYP) 1 (Pote 51)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) 3 (Alli 27, 56, Eriksen 65) Real Madrid (ESP) 1 (Ronaldo 80)
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
Super Spurs beat Real Madrid to qualify for Champions League knockout stages>
Former Dundalk star earns first Championship start of the season>
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
UEFA Champions League In form Premier League Sergio Aguero Manchester City Napoli