'A legend rose tonight' - Guardiola hails record-breaker Aguero

The striker set high-water marks in the English top-flight for goals by an overseas player and hat-tricks earning praise from his boss as he did so

manager Pep Guardiola has heralded Sergio Aguero as not just a hero on the field but an ‘incredible person’ off it as the Argentine forward broke two Premier League records on Sunday with a hat-trick against in a 6-1 romp for City.

Aguero’s treble saw him overtake Alan Shearer with the most hat-tricks in the competitions’ history, with the former man having registered 11 in his careerto Aguero's 12.

He also went past legend Thierry Henry to become the most prolific foreign goalscorer in the Premier League.

His third goa alsol took him level with Frank Lampard as the fourth-highest score since to competition's inception in 1992, with 177.

Guardiola spoke to Sky Sports after the game and was asked what it meant for his man to surpass Henry.

“He (Henry) is a legend and a legend rose tonight,” he replied. “Henry is one of the most incredible players to play in this league and he will be proud that Sergio is they guy who broke his record.

“He was a legend and Sergio is the same. To score this amount of goals means you have done a lot of good things for many years.

“He’s been consistent for many years and so we are proud of him.”

Aguero was keen to deflect praise from himself and onto his team-mates , and Guardiola said his loyalty to his colleagues was at the root of the former man's success.

“He is the most incredible person,” the Catalan added. “You don’t achieve what he has if you don’t love to be with your mates.

“And, when he gets into the final third, he knows where the goal is.

“You cannot achieve these records without being a guy who knows where the goal is.”

The victory, coupled with ’s shock defeat to , sees City back into second place in the Premier League table.

They are still 14 points behind leaders , who have a game in hand, but Guardiola says they must focus on their own performances.

"We are second in the table and for a long time we were not there so we will try and maintain this position," he concluded.