Raheem Sterling has hailed Sergio Aguero as being among the best strikers in world football after his Manchester City team-mate became the second-quickest player in history to reach 100 Premier League goals.
Augero glanced home Aleksandar Kolarov's first-half free-kick - a goal that stood despite replays showing the Argentina international to be in an offside position - to give City a 1-0 lead against Newcastle United at St James' Park on Tuesday and reach the milestone in 147 matches.
Only Alan Shearer has reached three figures in more efficient fashion and City were unable to overcome the ex-England captain's former club, with Vurnon Anita finishing crisply before the interval to earn a 1-1 draw.
"He's a great player - a player who can always score goals is a massive asset to your team," Sterling told City's official website when reflecting on Aguero's exploits.
"He's a player who can score at any moment, at any time in any football match. It's massive to have a player like that in your team
"He's definitely up there with the world's best strikers. He's a player who scores goals in big games, decisive goals. As a top player you've got to be like that and that's everything Sergio is."
Sterling came off the bench as City sought a winning goal to help their cause in terms of claiming a top four spot - the England forward's first action since sustaining a groin injury during the Manchester derby at the end of last month.
With a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid on the horizon and Euro 2016 a little further afield, the 21-year-old was pleased to return with no ill-effects, although he bemoaned City's inability to steal a march on Arsenal and Manchester United in fourth and fifth place respectively.
"The most important thing was to see how my injury felt. Off the field and now on the field, it felt alright," he said.
"Hopefully I can carry on and get some more minutes under my belt in the games coming up ahead."
Sterling added: "We all want to be playing with an automatic Champions League place next season. That the target for this football club and to drop two points here is quite a loss really."
