MANCHESTER: Sergio Aguero led Manchester City out of their recent stumbles by scoring five times in 20 minutes as Manuel Pellegrini’s men came from behind to thrash Steve McClaren’s Newcastle 6-1.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had given the winless Magpies a shock lead and should have scored a decisive second only to be foiled on a one-on-one chance by England keeper Joe Hart in the 28^th minute.

That incident proved crucial since Aguero then burst to life either side of half-time with a nine-minute hat-trick. He scored twice more before being substituted in the 66th minute while in-form Kevin De Bruyne grabbed another to send Newcastle bottom of the table.

In fact De Bruyne’s goal, a superbly-judged volley to a right-wing cross from Jesus Navas, was possibly the best of City’s six.

The Argentinian was the fifth player to score five goals in a single Premier League match. The others were Andy Cole (Manchester United v Ipswich in March 1995), Alan Shearer (Newcastle v Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999), Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United v Blackburn in 2010) and Jermain Defoe (Tottenham v Wigan in 2009).

Remarkably, Aguero was barely fit and needed extensive physio treatment at half-time for a sore thigh. Pellegrini said: “Kun is amazing, a player who can always make a difference. It must have been good treatment, yes?”

McClaren could not argue. He said: “We made mistakes but Aguero is a world-class finisher.” Even so, he is not the league’s top scorer. With six goals he is still one behind Leicester’s Jamie Vardy.

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