Sergio Aguero: The Greatest Goal Scorer In Manchester City History
By Tim Crean
On Tuesday night Sergio Aguero became the all-time leading Manchester City goal scorer breaking Eric Brook’s record set in 1939. In 264 games for Manchester City Aguero has now tallied an amazing 178 goals.
TV commentator Danny Higginbotham summed it up best immediately following the record-breaking goal when he said, “Right man. Right Time. Right Place”. That phrase certainly described the goal but also describes the player perfectly. He doesn’t have the smoothness or all-around game of countryman Lionel Messi. He doesn’t have the grace and natural athleticism of Cristiano Ronaldo. He doesn’t have the size of Robert Lewandowski or the pure pace of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. For his entire time at Manchester City though Sergio Aguero’s been the right man at the right time in the right place.
While perusing the YouTube highlights of Aguero’s Top Premier League goals you get an idea of the kind of scorer he is. There’s no bicycle kicks or wild volleys. A few shots from distance but no screamers that make you jump out of you chair. In fact, I bet of the 10 goals in that highlight, I can find nine Olivier Giroud goals that are more visually pleasing to replace goals 2-10. Only nine though because nothing can replace THAT goal. I’ll get to THAT goal.
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That’s the beauty of Sergio Aguero. He just scores. He doesn’t care how it looks, he doesn’t care if it wins him awards, he just likes to score. And while his goals don’t make it across the pond every week be on SportsCenter’s Top 10, they are no less impressive than the ones that do. Of course, all that said, he’s also responsible for the most famous goal in Premier League history. If you take out his former father-in-law’s dubious World Cup goal it may be the most famous goal in Soccer history. But I’ll get to THAT goal soon.
When you look at all these goals closely you’ll see what Aguero does so well. He creates space for himself. Just a little, because that’s all he needs. When he has the ball he’s so quick, so strong and so low to the ground that when he gets the ball in traffic he excels at finding just enough space to get his shot off.
When he’s off the ball though that’s when he’s at his best. Watch how many Aguero goals look like this; a Manchester City defender or midfielder gets the ball and starts the break. Aguero is running either with or a few feet behind one of the last defenders. The ball gets Kevin De Bruyne or Sami Nasri or Gareth Barry and they put a pass, seemingly to no one, into space between the last defender and the keeper. Just then, Sergio Aguero materializes out of nowhere, leaves the defender in the dust, receives the pass and knocks it home. You’ll also see a version of this where the pass comes from the side, it looks like it’s right at the defender and at the last-minute Aguero will cut in front of the Center Back and poke it past the goalkeeper.
The last thing you’ll see Aguero is brilliant at is angles. He’ll shoot and score from anywhere. Whether he shoots from the top corner of the box or from touching the end line, no angle is impossible for Sergio to find the back of the net from. Then on top of that you add to all these tangible skills to the intangible cold bloodedness of a true scoring machine he possesses and you get one of the greatest pure scorers of all time. Finally, you take one of the greatest pure scorers of all time and put him in one of the most dramatic moments of all time and THAT is how you get THAT goal.
A dominant rival. A decades long title drought. The weight of expectations that comes with money. The desperation of time running out. The greatest goal scorer in team history. That’s the place and time the man found himself in on May 13, 2012 at the Etihad Stadium. When you watch the build up to THAT goal, the one that doesn’t event need a name, just 4 numbers, you’ll see all the things Aguero does so well come together. He starts driving toward the net. He lays it off to Mario Balotelli who drops the ball into space. Aguero materializes on the end of the pass. He slips past a tackle to create space and fires it past the keeper at a tough angle. It all came together on that one fateful play. 93:20. AgueROOOOOOOOOO! The most famous goal in Premier League history.
Sergio Aguero has been one of the greatest all-time scorers for a long time. He scores some pretty goals and a lot of ugly ones. He scores early, he scores often and he scores late. He has 100+ goals we’ll never really remember and at least one we’ll never forget. He’s imprinted his name in all our memories and now his will be written in the Manchester City history books as their #1 goal scorer. It’s been a long time coming and it’s well deserved. Right man. Right place. Right time.
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