Etihad Stadium: Manchester City 4 (Aguero 13, 20 pen, 68 pen, 75) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 15)
Aguero opened the scoring in the 13th minute after picking up the ball on the left side of the box, cutting back, and then pausing to evaluate his options. Just when it seemed as though too much time had passed, he let fly with a fantastic shot, powering past the despairing hands of Hugo Lloris.
The advantage did not last long. Fernando got caught in possession, allowing Roberto Soldado to set up Christian Eriksen, whose shot bounced off Joe Hart’s legs and into the net.
The first of a quartet of penalties in the match arrived four minutes later as Frank Lampard fell forward under a challenge from Erik Lamela. The decision may have been questionable, but the conversion was not as Aguero hit a strong, low shot down to Hugo Lloris’s right.
He could not repeat the feat 11 minutes later, though, with a second spot-kick awarded for the foul of Younes Kaboul on David Silva. This time, Aguero shot straight at Lloris, and although he got himself to the rebound courtesy of some impressive acrobatics, his second attempt was over the bar.
The third penalty was awarded to Tottenham just after the hour – again a rather debatable one, with Soldado falling into the box after having his heels clipped by Martin Demichelis. The kick itself was about placement rather than power, and Hart had no difficulty palming it away.
Aguero got his hat-trick with the fourth penalty, opting for a similar plan to his first attempt after he had his shirt tugged by Federico Fazio, who received a red card on his debut.
And he added insult to injury with a beautifully taken fourth, timing his run perfectly, moving sleekly past substitute Jan Vertonghen and driving past Lloris.
- Source: Eurosport
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