They say that it doesn’t matter how many times you fall – what matters is how you get back up. Sergio Aguero did exactly that and he did it with class, in the Champions League game where Manchester City played against Steaua Bucharest. City cruised to an easy victory as the scoreboard read 5-0 at full time, in their favour. The fact is that Manchester City should have won that game anyway, as it did not represent much of a challenge for Pep Guardiola’s men. However, their biggest take-away from that game would definitely be Sergio Aguero. He has been Manchester City’s talisman for quite some time now, and in this game, he proved why.
It’s not just about the hat-trick or the technicalities of it. It’s simply about the man’s attitude.
In a high-pressure game against any team, a striker’s confidence is bound to plummet once they fail to score two consecutive penalties. Aguero, on the other hand, went on from that state and ended up netting 3 beautiful goals.
Aguero is everything a team needs in a striker – aggression, creativity and speed. He was brilliant and posed threats to the Steaua defenders every time he got into their box.
The entire City team as such did pretty well, but they are still a work in progress. Having said that, City fans must’ve been delighted to witness the link-up play and fast one-touch passing that was showcased in this victory.
Although Aguero saved his reputation by scoring the hat-trick, his initial two penalty misses could cause room for concern. The first attempt wasn’t a bad effort, but the goalkeeper guessed what he was going for correctly. The second, however, was far from the target, and that is not what you would expect from one of the world’s best.
Manchester City deserved to win and honourable mention must go towards Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling. However, their win would have been all the more convincing had Aguero not missed twice within the first 20 minutes at the Arena Nationala.
On the other hand, the growing question over Joe Hart’s future still remains as Guardiola again left him on the bench, thus fuelling rumours that Hart might not be at the Etihad Stadium for long. The concern over their future doesn’t end with just Hart – even Yaya Toure was left watching the game from Manchester, and he was also left out for his second consecutive game. This raises a lot of questions over City’s future line-ups. This can be a major issue potentially if Pep does not manage to sign any quality replacements.
Raheem Sterling was as powerful as he was in the game against Sunderland, and he secured the first penalty in the initial few minutes. Muniru Sulley was the culprit, but Aguero failed to take the advantage and Florin Nita was able to guess the right move. Subsequently, Aguero was close to make up for it with a shot that flew over, but David Silva looked formidable and played home a shot on 13 minutes after Sterling stole the ball from Alin Tosca.
This was, however, Aguero’s fourth penalty miss from his last five in European competition. He is an asset, undoubtedly, but as the number one City striker, he should be able to break the penalty jinx at Europe. Aguero’s spirit and passion needs to be applauded, but his penalty technique is going to need major improvement.
