London: Sergio Aguero scored five times in 20 minutes including an eight-minute hat-trick as Manchester City came from behind to thrash Newcastle United 6-1 and go back to the top of the Premier League table yesterday.
Champions Chelsea crashed to their fourth defeat in eight matches this season when they were beaten 3-1 by Southampton at Stamford Bridge after a woeful performance that left them 16th in the table.
While City have 18 points, Chelsea have just eight and are only four points better off than Aston Villa who are in the relegation zone.
The win lifted Southampton up to ninth after their first win at Chelsea since 2002.
In the other earlier matches, Crystal Palace beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 to rise to third on 15 points, level with Leicester City who won 2-1 at Norwich City.
Sunderland let slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with West Ham United, Stoke City won 1-0 at two from bottom Aston Villa and Bournemouth drew 1-1 with Watford.
City, beaten by West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur in their last two league games, appeared to be in danger of another defeat after Aleksandar Mitrovic headed Newcastle ahead in the 18th minute at the Etihad Stadium.
The visitors, without a win so far, looked the better team for much of the first half but imploded as Aguero burst into life with goals after 42, 49, 50, 60 and 62 minutes. With Kevin De Bruyne also on target, five of City’s six goals came in a dazzling 13-minute spell.
Victory lifted City on to 18 points, two ahead of Manchester United who play at Arsenal today.
Aguero, who scored all four when City beat Spurs 4-1 last October, becomes only the fifth player in the Premier League era to score five in a game following Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov.
But he was denied the chance to become the first player to score six in the Premier League when coach Manuel Pellegrini substituted him two minutes after his fifth goal.
Aguero headed his first three minutes before the break before he made it 2-1 with a deflected shot four minutes into the second half, completing his hat-trick when he ran through on goal a minute later.
De Bruyne’s volley in the 53rd minute made it 4-1 before Aguero struck City’s fifth with a curling shot in the 60th minute and completed his afternoon’s work with a close-range finish two minutes later.
Palace won with goals from Yannick Bolasie, who scored at home for the first time since New Year’s day 2013 and Yohan Cabaye’s 89th minute penalty, a week after scoring the match-winning penalty at Watford.