Manuel Pellegrini: Sergio Aguero can be leading man
The prolific City striker roared back to goalscoring form with a superb hat-trick in Saturday’s comfortable 3-0 victory at Chelsea.
The treble took his Premier League tally since joining the club in 2011 to 99 in 146 appearances and his total in the competition this season to 21.
With joint-leading scorers Jamie Vardy of Leicester and Tottenham’s Harry Kane just one ahead on 22, Aguero again has the Golden Boot — which he won last year with 26 goals — in his sights.
Pellegrini said: “He has scored an important amount of goals and he is just one behind Kane and Vardy, so he is fighting to be the top scorer in this year also.
“The way that he is playing, especially the last game, I am sure that it will be difficult for the other strikers to keep up with his performances.”
Aguero will hope to reach his Premier League century against one of his favourite opponents, Newcastle, at St James’ Park tonight.
The Argentinian has scored 10 times against the Magpies in league competition, including five in one game when the sides met at the Etihad Stadium last October.
Unfortunately for Aguero, that game proved his last for City for seven weeks as he picked up a hamstring injury on international duty. With heel trouble then hampering his comeback, it took the 27-year-old some time to get back into his stride.
The pattern of blistering form followed by injuries has become a familiar one for Aguero throughout his time at City and Pellegrini thinks that could be why he is continually overlooked for personal honours.
Only once in his five seasons in England has Aguero been nominated for the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year gong and he has never been voted into the players’ team of the season.
Pellegrini said: “I don’t vote so it’s difficult for me to know why in four years he’s never been (among) the best players.
“I don’t know who chooses the best players, what the different reasons might be. In other seasons maybe people didn’t vote for him because of the injuries but he’s demonstrated in every game that he deserves to be in.”
Pellegrini has stated in the past that he believes Aguero belongs in the same bracket of players as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and only injuries have prevented him attaining that status.
He said: “If he continues scoring three goals every game, he’d be very near them.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez has challenged Moussa Sissoko to become “dangerous” once again as he plots a path out of the Premier League relegation minefield.
The 56-year-old Spaniard appointed the France midfielder as his stand-in captain against Swansea on Saturday and was rewarded with Sissoko’s best individual performance for some time as he scored in a precious 3-0 victory.
Benitez will need to see more of the same from the former Toulouse midfielder in the remaining five games of the campaign if the Magpies are to retain their top-flight status, but he has confidence in the player can deliver.
He said: “When I came, a lot of people were giving me information. Since I came, I had that conversation with him.
“He was one of the players that I knew when we were playing against Newcastle was very dangerous. I tried to bring him back and give him this confidence.
“The first day watching his face, he was believing. He was thinking, ‘I can do well’.”
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