Sergio Aguero Cemented Himself as One of Best in EPL with Manchester Derby Brace

If there was any doubt as to where Sergio Aguero stands among the best players in the Premier League, he put it to bed with a brace on Sunday against Manchester United.

Aguero was just one of many Manchester City players who stepped up in a big way to take down their inner-city rivals, 4-1. Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany were all fantastic. It was Aguero who provided that killer instinct in the box that made the difference.

His two goals were more the result of being in the right place at the right time rather than pieces of individual brilliance.

However, you cannot deny that it's a habit that Aguero finds a way to step up large in the biggest matches.

He has been fantastic in the Manchester Derby, scoring in three of his five matches against United in the Premier League (h/t OptaJoe).

In terms of the Premier League striker hierarchy, you'd still put Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney as the top two, in whatever order you want. Then comes the debate as to whether you have Aguero or Luis Suarez in that third spot. Given his inability to get suspended for biting other players, you'd have to give the edge to the Argentine forward.

When considering current form and performance over the past few seasons, it's very hard not to put Aguero into the top 10 across all positions.

Inconsistency can sometimes be an issue with the player. He'll have his matches when you forget he's even on the pitch. He's not alone in that category, and that hasn't stopped him from building quite the resume since moving to City in 2011.

The phrase "world-class" is often thrown around too liberally for players that simply don't deserve the tag. Aguero, on the other hand, is a genuine world-class striker. He's made a nice account for himself with the Argentina national team and had a successful spell with Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

With the brace, Aguero has now run his goal total to 38 goals in 69 Premier League appearances. Having better than a 2:1 match-to-goal ratio is about the standard for a striker. That would put you at 19 goals a season. So for Aguero to be at 1.81:1 is impressive.

He's not even an out-and-out striker. He's always been at his best playing off a more natural centre-forward, whether it was Diego Forlan at Atletico, or Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo at City.

Aguero just has a knack for knowing how and where to run through the defense. This either helps to drag defenders over, opening space for his teammates, or it allows Aguero to finish off moves himself, like he did against United.

What's scary is that he's still only 25 years old. He's still got another two or three years at his peak.

The Argentinian has forever stamped his place in City's history with his goal against Queens Park Rangers that won the Premier League title in 2012. Now it's about time he creates his legacy as one of the greats in Premier League history.