Manchester City Coach Pep Guardiola hailed Sergio Aguero as a ‘legend’ after the striker made history with his hat-trick in the 6-1 Aston Villa win, MySportDab reports.
Aguero’s goals saw him reach 177 and surpass Thierry Henry, who finished with 175 at Arsenal.
He also set another record, Aguero’s hat-trick was his 12th in the Premier League since signing for City in 2011, overtaking Alan Shearer.
Pep Guardiola said: ‘He’s a legend and the legend showed tonight. He’s an incredible player and I like to work with nice people.
‘It is an honour to be here the day he achieved it. Hopefully he will score many more. It also depends on him.’
Posting on Twitter, Aguero wrote: ‘It’s truly moving to reach a new milestone alongside football legends like Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Frank Lampard.’
The 31-year-old’s contract at Manchester City expires at the end of next season, and he indicated last year that he would love to rejoin his youth club Independiente in Argentina.
Guardiola added: ‘It still depends on him and the club. It’s his decision. There are many players through the history of English football, and Aguero helps to make the Premier League and English football even better.
‘The best I’ve worked with Lionel is Messi but one the rest, Sergio is absolutely one of the best, absolutely. When you break this record, held by another fantastic legend like Thierry Henry, it means you’ve been consistent for many years.’
The 6-1 win allowed City to move ahead of Leicester and into second in the table but Guardiola knows it is only a matter of time before the Premier League title race is over.
Liverpool are still 14 points clear at the top, having dropped only two points in 21 matches so far this season.
City still have a chance of glory in the Cup Competitions, though Guardiola is more keen on a third Champions League title as a coach.
He said: ‘Liverpool? Forget about them. We would have liked to fight against them but we weren’t good enough. For many reasons, we couldn’t.’
