Guardiola hails hat-trick hero Aguero

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola praised Sergio Aguero's natural goalscoring ability after his hat-trick on Wednesday helped defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 in their opening Champions League Group C match at the Etihad Stadium. Aguero opened the scoring on eight minutes with a clinical finish and added a second just before the half-hour mark from the penalty spot. The Argentina striker netted his ninth goal in five games this season when he slotted past visiting keeper Yann Sommer in the 77th minute. Guardiola, who joined City in the close season from Bayern Munich, refused to take any credit for Aguero's blistering start to the campaign, but said he is encouraging the striker to work hand in hand with his team mates. "Sergio is good because he is good. He was good with (former City manager) Manuel (Pellegrini) and he is good with the national team," Guardiola told reporters. "He just has a talent to score goals that is natural, I cannot teach him that. "What I can tell him is there is a team behind him that is going to help him. I want to convince him to help them and if it happens in that way he's going to score a lot of goals, just like Kele (Kelechi Iheanacho) and all our strikers." Guardiola was thrilled with the cultured debut in midfield of Ilkay Gundogan, who was the Spaniard's first signing for City but was making his first appearance after suffering a dislocated knee. Gundogan replaced David Silva in City's starting lineup. "That shows how good he is, to play like that after three or four months out. We spoke with him (before the game) and he said 'I am ready'," said Guardiola, who added that Spain playmaker Silva has a minor injury and may not be fit for Saturday's Premier League game against Bournemouth. "He is so intelligent, he knew how to control his efforts. I thought he wasn't ready to play 90 minutes but he did it because he is so intelligent. He doesn't lose the ball, he can arrive in the box, he has quality in both feet." RESULT Manchester City (ENG) 4 (Aguero 9, 28-pen, 77, Iheanacho 90+1) Borussia Moenchengladbach (GER) 0