What a way to break the record and what a place to do it. At the cavernous Stadio San Paolo where his erstwhile father-in-law Diego Maradona is still worshipped as a demi-god, Sergio Aguero ascended to greatness when he became Manchester City’s top scorer of all-time.
Aguero had stood level with 1930s star Eric Brook on 177 goals for 12 days, but it was only a matter of time before he claimed a place in history all for himself.
When the opportunity arrived in the 69th minute of his 264th appearance for City, Aguero did not let his team – or himself – down.
An absorbing Group F tie was evenly poised at 2-2 when City broke out of defence and the ball was played forward. Leroy Sane made enough of a nuisance of himself to force Elseid Hysaj to stumble and Aguero collected it 30 yards out.
Suddenly the path to goal was clear. The Argentine star drove into space and buried his shot past Pepe Reina into the bottom corner.
Maradona, father of Aguero’s ex-wife Giannina and grandfather to their son Benjamin, is revered here for inspiring Napoli to the Italian title in 1987 and 1990.
Aguero was already assured of a similar place in the hearts of City fans for his part in their two championship-winning seasons. But now his name will be officially etched into the history of the club.
His landmark goal maintained City’s 100 per cent record in the Champions League this season and sent Pep Guardiola’s side through to the knockout stage for the fifth year in a row as they became the first English club to win here in Naples.
Up to that point City had showed they can still do it the old-fashioned way on a night when the beautiful goals wouldn’t go in at first, with two corners leading to two headers from centre backs Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones.
But it wasn’t easy. It was never going to be in the imposing Stadio San Paolo against a team as good as Napoli, the Serie A leaders who have not lost here in the league since February and have only suffered three defeats in their last 24 games at home in Europe.
A young City side showed huge character in a manner that will have delighted Guardiola and sent out another ominous message to their rivals. He admitted they were ‘destroyed’ in the opening 20 minutes, but still recovered to score four times.
‘When everything is going well it’s easy. Even you and I can play,’ said Guardiola afterwards. ‘The point is how you react in bad moments and we did it really well. It was a great win for us.’
Looking to salvage their own Champions League hopes, Napoli were that little bit sharper early on and it was no surprise to see them take the lead in the 21st minute.
It was a beautifully-worked goal but perhaps a little too easy from City’s point of view. Dries Mertens played a lovely one-two on the edge of the box with Lorenzo Insigne who sliced through City’s defence and curled the ball around Ederson Moraes.
The place erupted and it was to City’s credit that they raised their game immediately.
They produced their best move of the first half which ended with Aguero’s shot being deflected inches wide of the post.
Napoli had not escaped, though. When De Bruyne delivered from the right, the ball was flicked on and Otamendi headed in at the far post for his first Champions League goal in 39 games.
It was also the defender’s second goal in three matches, as many as he had scored in the 93 before that.
He could even have had another before half-time. Ilkay Gundogan swept the ball to the back post where Otamendi miskicked in front of goal, and the ball looped up for Stones to plant a header against the bar from 15 yards.
Raheem Sterling must have thought he would score within seconds of the restart when he wriggled through but Raul Albiol got across to make a fantastic block.
Again, Napoli had only delayed City scoring for a matter of moments. Sane swung over a corner and Stones met it with another thumping header.
It hit the bar again but this time bounced down just over the line, a fact German referee Felix Brych confirmed after a few moments of uncertainty.
Now it was Napoli’s turn to raise their game. Insigne rattled the bar with a fine effort from 30 yards and the Italians were awarded a penalty on the hour mark for Sane’s late tackle on Albiol.
Jorginho kept his cool to beat Ederson from the spot and we were all square again.
Ederson made a wonderful when Jose Callejon was one on one with the keeper, and moments later Aguero struck.
There was still time for Kevin De Bruyne to set up Sterling to score a fourth right at the end, but nothing could take away from Aguero’s achievement. What a record. What a night.
