Sergio Aguero show against Newcastle 'amazing', says Manuel Pellegrini

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini described Sergio Aguero's performance in the 6-1 win over Newcastle as "amazing", and insists he substituted the striker as a precaution.

Aguero, who had scored just once in the Premier League before Saturday, scored five goals in 23 minutes either side of half-time to return his side to the top of the Premier League.

He would have had 28 minutes to become first Premier League player to hit six goals in a single game, but Pellegrini defended his decision to substitute him after his fifth goal for Wilfried Bony.

"He had treatment at half time, and to give him more minutes he could have scored but we must be cautious about his fitness, because he could be injured.

"It's always amazing to see a player score five goals, the important thing is that Kun did it today in a difficult game when we were 1-0 down.

"I'm very happy for Kun because from the beginning of the season there have been some chances for him that he would normally never miss, but football is football and the players are human. Today he made a complete game."

Pellegrini's side may be knocked off top spot by Manchester United, who travel to Arsenal on Super Sunday, but the Chilean says he is not concerning himself with that, and is instead delighted to get a much-needed win before the international break.

He added: "It's more important to win before the international break because now we have 15 days without playing. It's important to return from a victory, to play the way we did and to win.

"We'll see what happens with Manchester United tomorrow but really I am not worried about that. It is more important to see our team play in the way we did today."