Sergio Aguero proves his greatness by bouncing back from early miss to hit hat-trick against Chelsea

The hallmark of any great striker is the ability to put a missed chance to the back of their mind and take the next one. No point dwelling on it. Move on and make sure next time.

They don’t come much greater than Sergio Aguero, which is why Manchester City’s prolific Argentine striker will not have been unduly worried when he squandered a glaring opportunity less than eight minutes into a stunning 6-0 victory over Chelsea at the Etihad. 

Only Aguero will know he contrived to turn the ball wide from three yards out when Bernardo Silva’s cross reached him unmarked at the far post. Over on the touchline, manager Pep Guardiola was unable to hide his anguish, throwing himself to the floor with such force that his hood flopped down over his head. 

Sergio Aguero hit a hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed Chelsea 6-0 at the Etihad Stadium

Aguero became City’s all-time leading league goalscorer as he took his tally to 160 goals

The beauty of Guardiola’s team is that another chance is never far behind – and players like Aguero rarely make the same mistake twice. City were already a goal to the good at that stage and were soon storming into a 4-0 lead inside 24 minutes thanks to two goals from their all-time leading scorer.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri witnessed Aguero reaching that landmark in City’s Champions League win over Napoli last year when he scored his 178th goal to surpass Eric Brook’s long-standing record. 

Here at the Etihad, he overtook Brook and Tommy Johnson to become City’s all-time top league goalscorer with his second hat-trick in a week.

The goal that took him level with two stars of the pre-Second World War on 158 was a thing of beauty. Oleksandr Zinchenko deserves credit for hunting the ball down and prodding it to Aguero 25 yards from goal. But there was still no hint of the threat to Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Suddenly Aguero surged away from Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho, whose defending was typical of the lamentable opposition put up by Sarri’s side, and unleashed a spectacular right-foot shot that arrowed towards the top corner. The keeper got a hand to the ball but was never going to keep it out. 

Aguero was excellent as City won emphatically to keep the pressure on Liverpool

Aguero’s second goal was not as pleasing on the eye as the first but was no less clinical

Aguero’s second, record-breaking goal, was not as pleasing on the eye but no less clinical. Once again, Chelsea’s incompetence played a part. David Luiz headed clear and, for some reason, Ross Barkley thought it would be wise to head the ball straight back to the edge of the six-yard box. 

Not surprisingly, this caught his teammates unawares but Aguero was lurking like a true predator. He met the ball first time, swivelling to turn it past a helpless Kepa from close-range.

The only regret at half-time was that he didn’t have a hat-trick, but we didn’t have to wait long. Aguero had already headed against the bar when opportunity knocked again in the 56th minute. Cesar Azpilicueta chopped down Raheem Sterling in the box, and Aguero stepped up to coolly convert from the spot.

Back-to-back Premier League hat-tricks earned him a share of another record, joining Alan Shearer on 11.

Earlier in the game Aguero somehow managed to miss from close range but he bounced back

Aguero received the match ball after the game following a brilliant performance

With the game over as a contest, Aguero was substituted in the 65th minute 

The great thing about Aguero though is his ability to deliver against the big teams. First Arsenal last week and now Chelsea. No-one could accuse him of being a flat track bully. He didn’t even play when City beat Rotherham and Burton Albion 7-0 and 9-0 in the cup last month, otherwise his season’s total of 23 goals would surely be even more impressive.

He has now plundered 43 goals in 64 league games against the other Big Six teams – Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal – since joining City from Atletico Madrid for £38million in the summer of 2011. Even at the age of 30, what would he be worth at today’s prices?

It’s not as if Sarri wasn’t warned either. Having scored home and away against the Italian’s Napoli side last season, Aguero then fired both goals in his first game as Chelsea coach in the Community Shield in August.

He could potentially have scored more here too, but Pep Guardiola decided to replace him after 65 minutes and send on Gabriel Jesus, conscious that bigger challenges lie ahead.

So, exit Aguero, the hero once again. Another hat-trick, another record and another standing ovation. Just another day in a remarkable career at City.