Sergio Aguero continued his rich vein of scoring form with a clinical hat-trick as Manchester City swept Chelsea aside, with Thibaut Courtois’ late sending off compounding Guus Hiddink’s misery.
The Argentine has now scored 13 goals in his last 12 top-flight appearances as City provisionally moved up to third position above Arsenal.
Aguero may have taken home the match ball but it was Kevin De Bruyne who made the biggest impression in west London; unfortunately for watching Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, he was wearing City’s alternative neon green rather than the royal blue of the home side.
Since being sold by the Blues to Wolfsburg in 2014, De Bruyne has been named the Most Outstanding Player in the Bundesliga and moved to the Etihad for a club record £55m.
His absence from Manuel Pellegrini’s team saw the visitors endure their darkest run of form this season, and his return has sparked the side back to life and into the semi-final of the Champions League.
At Stamford Bridge, De Bruyne was the most influential player on the pitch. He claimed an assist for the opener and produced a sublime, crucial touch in the build-up to Aguero’s second.
Chelsea had more possession and Pedro, Willian and Ruben Loftus-Cheek furrowed at the other end, but De Bruyne was doing far more with far less as City played a brilliant counter-punching game.
John Obi Mikel’s poor control in midfield allowed De Bruyne to burst forward on the right flank, pulling the ball back to Aguero on the edge of the box, with a kind deflection sending the pass into the striker’s path.
The Argentine neatly controlled before evading Gary Cahill’s challenge and sending his shot past Courtois into the bottom-right corner in the 33rd minute for City’s first goal.
Despite taking the lead, Manuel Pellegrini will not have been satisfied with his side’s performance, particularly as their place in the Premier League’s top four is far from guaranteed.
The second half began as the first ended. Chelsea had an early chance to equalise, with Pedro breaking forward on the left flank, but Loftus- Cheek couldn’t control the Spaniard’s ball into the box.
And it wasn’t long before the Champions League semi-finalists doubled their lead, with Aguero getting his second of the game in the 54th minute.
The Blues were dispossessed in the final third, allowing De Bruyne to effortlessly set up yet another blistering counter-attack. The 24-year-old quickly surged forward before sending the ball into the path of Samir Nasri.
The latter played Aguero in who slotted his strike past Courtois after easing past Branislav Ivanovic and Cahill.
Following the goal, the Citizens sat back, gifting Chelsea possession, clearly feeling confident they could now see the game out.
And there was further misery for Hiddink’s side when Courtois was shown a red card after bringing Fernandinho down in the box.
Aguero went on to grab his hat-trick from the subsequent spot kick in the 80th minute, sending Courtois’ replacement Asmir Begovic the wrong way and sealing three points for Manchester City.
