Sergio Aguero bagged his seventh hat-trick for Manchester City to secure a 3-0 victory against 10-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this evening.
The in-form striker, who now has 21 goals for the season - one short of current top-scorer Harry Kane - opened the scoring in the first half before adding two more after the break.
Aguero's third of the contest came late on from the penalty spot after the Blues had keeper Thibaut Courtois dismissed, ensuring that City move four points ahead of rivals Manchester United in the race for a top-four finish.
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A frenetic opening few minutes to the match saw Kevin De Bruyne get in behind the opposition backline for the first time and pull the ball back for star man Aguero, whose shot was blocked by Gary Cahill just a few yards out.
The hosts came even closer to finding a breakthrough just moments later, as Diego Costa capitalised on some uncertainty at the back to lay the ball off for Pedro to blast goalwards, only for Nicolas Otamendi to block away on the line.
There was no sign of the game settling down when Costa again got the better of the City defence to find the net, but he was denied a goal on his return to action by the offside flag.
Chelsea's only other chance of the half fell to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who got the better of his man before lashing the ball across the face of goal for Joe Hart to smartly push to safety.
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It was Courtois who was proving to be the busier keeper, though, denying both Samir Nasri and De Bruyne who both found themselves through on goal in quick succession.
There was to be no stopping Aguero 33 minutes in when he picked his spot, via a wicked deflection off Cahill on its way through, to round off a swift counter that had been led by ex-Blues ace De Bruyne.
Aguero still had plenty to do from the edge of the box for his 12th league goal of the calendar year, taking a touch to settle himself before getting the better of Courtois.
That proved to be it in terms of the first-half chances, with the remainder of the opening 45 minutes petering out without either side really causing any problems in the attacking third.
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Guus Hiddink's charges were quicker out of the blocks following the restart, yet it was City who doubled their advantage 54 minutes in when Aguero again expertly tucked away.
Nasri slipped the ball through for his teammate, who held his run perfectly to remain onside and picked his spot to put the Citizens well on their way to another important win.
Chances proved to be few and far between for large parts of the second half, with the hosts almost resigned to defeat from the moment Aguero's second goal hit the back of the net.
It was to get a whole lot worse for the West London outfit, however, as Courtois was shown a red card 10 minutes from time when felling Fernandinho inside the box, allowing Aguero to step up and convert from the spot for his hat-trick.
City were able to see out the remainder with ease, sealing three more points to take them above Arsenal into third place in the Premier League table.
Daniel Lewis
