Sergio Aguero

Sergio Aguero

LONDON. — Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as Manchester City restored their 12-point lead at the top of the English Premier League soccer table with a 3-1 win at home to Newcastle United on Saturday night.

City’s 30-match unbeaten run in the league, which spanned two seasons, came to a dramatic end with a 4-3 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.

But their return to winning ways here had manager Pep Guardiola proclaiming his side needed 10 more victories to be crowned champions.

Their advantage at the top of the table had been cut to single figures, for a few hours at least, when second-placed Manchester United beat Burnley 1-0 earlier on Saturday.

Normal service resumed in the day’s late kick-off, though, with Aguero glancing in Kevin De Bruyne’s cross in the 34th minute to open the scoring at the Etihad.

The Argentina striker then converted a 63rd-minute penalty awarded after Raheem Sterling tumbled in the box following a tug by Javier Manquillo.

But struggling Newcastle scored against the run of play four minutes later when a rare lapse saw Jacob Murphy sprint through and finish in composed fashion.

Aguero, however, put the result beyond doubt when City’s all-time leading goalscorer completed his 11th hat-trick for the club seven minutes from time following a superb run and pass from Leroy Sane.

“We needed it (this win) after last week,” Aguero told BT Sport. “It’s a long season though and we’ve not won anything yet.”

Guardiola added: “We need 10 more wins to be champions…It was important how we reacted at 2-1, we didn’t panic.”

Guardiola was especially pleased with the way his team managed to recover from their stumble on Merseyside.

“The players reacted really well with huge personality,” the City manager said.

“We created chances, we scored goals and we conceded few chances and we avoided two bad results in a row. I don’t know what is going to happen (in the rest of the season) but I don’t have to be convinced of the incredible players we have.”

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach added: “When we lost 4-3 against Liverpool, we congratulated Jurgen Klopp and his team and moved forward.

“Always after the defeat against Liverpool, you have a little bit of doubt about how you would react. We need mathematically 10 victories to be champions. We are going to try game by game.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal showed there was plenty of life after Alexis Sanchez as they beat Crystal Palace 4-1 without the United-bound Chilean forward.

With Sanchez inching towards a move to United rather than City, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger left him out of his matchday squad.

Any fears Arsenal might falter up front without him proved groundless as they surged into a 4-0 lead inside 22 minutes at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Laurent Koscielny, Alex Iwobi and Alexandre Lacazette before Luka Milivojevic pulled one back for Palace late on.

Arsenal remain outside the top four but heartened manager Wenger said: “We played our real game in the first half, real pace and real combination.”

At Turf Moor, United striker Anthony Martial scored a 54th-minute winner with his third league goal in as many matches.

Jose Mourinho left midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the proposed makeweight in the Sanchez deal, out of his matchday squad and afterwards the United manager indicated the transfer saga was nearing an end.

“Expect soon or never,” he said. “So close, so close, so close…I know my people are doing absolutely everything they can.”

But Wenger warned: “Sanchez will only happen if Mkhitaryan comes here, that will be decided in the next 48 hours.”

In fact, Manchester United have agreed a straight swap deal with Arsenal for Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan involving NO transfer fees.

Sanchez’s move to Manchester United was thought to have been held up by Mkhitaryan’s move in the opposite direction to Arsenal.

It was claimed the two clubs had decided to divide the deals to work on them separately, with Sanchez moving to Old Trafford for a fee in the region of £35million.

However, sensational new reports from BBC journalist David Ornstein claim the two sides have come to an agreement for a straight swap deal with no fees.

“Exclusive: Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan agrees move to Arsenal in a deal that will see Gunners forward Alexis Sanchez go opposite way,” Ornstein tweeted.

“It’s a straight swap, no money involved. Paperwork complete, Mkhitaryan will undergo a medical over the next two days.”

Sanchez will not get the freedom he enjoys at Arsenal under Mourinho.

That’s the verdict of former Manchester United striker Michael Owen.

“There is clearly one major reason why Alexis Sanchez is choosing Manchester United over Manchester City,” he told the Daily Mail.

“Naturally, as a footballer he wants to maximise his earnings but as an attacking player, I’m still surprised he would opt for Jose Mourinho over Pep Guardiola.

“As an attacking player, he must know that he is going to be asked to temper his game, certainly compared to the season he had under Guardiola at Barcelona or his time under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

“Maybe if I was a defender, I might prefer Mourinho but at United Sanchez will eventually conform to what Mourinho wants and that will restrict his performance. I don’t think a team like United should play that way.”

Chelsea won 4-0 away to Brighton as the reigning English champions leapfrogged Liverpool, who play Swansea tonight, into third place.

The Blues’ first win of 2018 saw Eden Hazard score twice with a goal in each half, while Willian and Victor Moses were also on target.

On a day when all Premier League fixtures were preceded by a minute’s applause honouring former West Bromwich Albion and England forward Cyrille Regis, a trailblazer for black players who died aged 59 last week, the Baggies drew 1-1 with Everton.

Jay Rodriguez gave West Brom an early lead before Theo Walcott, on his Everton debut following a midweek move from Arsenal, laid on an equaliser for Oumar Niasse in the 70th minute.

But the sight of Toffees midfielder James McCarthy going off with a broken leg cast a shadow over Everton boss Sam Allardyce’s 1 000th game as a manager.

New Stoke manager Paul Lambert won his first game in charge of the Potters as they beat Huddersfield 2-0 with second-half goals from Joe Allen and Mame Biram Diouf to climb out of the relegation zone.

Leicester beat Watford 2-0 while West Ham and Bournemouth drew 1-1. — AFP

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