Catch us if you can!

Manchester clubs throw down the gauntlet
Sergio Aguero hit his first hat–trick in English football — then insisted the team’s success comes before personal glory.

The £38million signing was in stunning finishing form as Wigan were swept aside 3–0, and the Argentinian has already struck six goals to keep him on the coat–tails of the top flight’s leading scorer Wayne Rooney.

Aguero told City TV: “It was great to get the three goals but the most important thing is that we keep winning. A hat–trick is good but for me the most important goal was the first one, as we needed to score.”

Aguero could have had even more – he had looked keen to take the penalty compatriot Carlos Tevez missed, and went close on several other occasions.

Aguero’s goal–scoring secured him the sponsors’ man–of–the–match award but for many at Eastlands it was Spanish midfielder David Silva who ran the game in which City were hugely dominant – and for manager Roberto Mancini far too wasteful.

Mancini said: “We had 15 chances in the first half and we scored only one goal. This is a problem because the game can change any moment.

“We need to improve because we have started the season very well but the season will be long. If we want to arrive at the end of the season still at the top we need to improve.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez said it was too soon to start comparing City to Barcelona.

He said: “Only time will tell. Barcelona, when they started with Frank Rijkaard had little flashes like Manchester City showed. In three years down the line you will be able to compare them.

“Nobody can be compared to Barcelona yet, you have to win many titles together first. What’s quite clear is that the ingredients Manchester City have mean they have the capability of achieving anything in world football.

“We all know they are world–class players but what Roberto Mancini has achieved is making them play as a team and it is a joy to watch.”




PHIL JONES is glad to be on the same side as Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez — rather than having to try to stop them.



One of the happy by–products of moving from Blackburn to Manchester United in the summer is that he is no longer at risk of suffering the kind of mauling he experienced for himself at Old Trafford last season.

United have already gone one better than that seven–goal spectacular in their destruction of Arsenal. This time it was Bolton’s turn to feel the pain, sliding to a 5–0 defeat as the Red Devils completed the best start to a season since the Premier League was formed in 1992.

Rooney scored his second consecutive hat–trick and Hernandez bagged the other two as Sir Alex Ferguson’s most potent strike force was reunited once more.

“It is impossible to defend against Wayne and Javier at times,” said the 19–year–old. “Their movement is phenomenal. It is a struggle for defenders to cope with it.”

At the start of a season that is already being written up as a straight shoot–out between the red and blue halves of Manchester, Rooney’s scoring record stands out.

It was his seventh treble, the same number as Sir Bobby Charlton. The 25–year–old also become the first United player to score back–to–back league hat–tricks since Alex Dawson in 1960.

His eight Premier League goals this term mean that he has netted more on his own than every team aside from United and City, and is only three adrift of his entire total from last season.