Julian Alvarez scored his first goals as a Manchester City player as he netted an impressive hat-trick for River Plate on Wednesday.
Alvarez completed a £14.1m move to City in the January transfer window, signing a five-and-a-half year contract at the Etihad.
He will remain at River until July at least, with Pep Guardiola saying the Argentine international was signed as a central striker given his impressive record of 24 goals and 15 assists last season.
The striker doesn't seem to have let the move to City affect his game though, as he looked in deadly form against Patronato on Wednesday in the Argentinian League Cup. After an opening defeat to CA Union, River bounced back in impressive fashion with a 4-1 win in their second game.
Starting in the centre forward role, Alvarez scored three impressive goals as he got off the mark for the 2022 season, showing finishing that looked familiar to City fans.
After River fell behind early on, Alvarez had them on terms after 21 minutes, controlling a tricky volleyed cross with his left foot, before heading the bouncing ball over the onrushing goalkeeper from inside the area.
He had his second before half time, showing shades of Sergio Aguero as he made a darting run between two defenders to the a tight angle level with the corner of the six yard box on the right. He adjusted his body and fired a powerful angled shot into the roof of the net and wheeled away in his trademark 'Spider' celebration.
There were more echoes of Aguero's finishing as Alvarez completed his hat-trick shortly after half time, as he was played through in the area, again on the right hand side, and sent a composed finish low into the bottom corner across the goalkeeper.
City will be assured of Alvarez's finishing, and also that he looks to be in form after his transfer, but the striker praised his teammates for their ammunition to give him a hat-trick opportunity.
He also showed a similar mindset to City's big Champions League win, when manager Pep Guardiola and star man Bernardo Silva said there was still plenty of room for improvement from their 5-0 win at Sporting.
Alvarez said: "We played a good game. At times we have to handle the ball a little more. We did it in a short time.
"We have to continue working to be more continuous in that. From that the goals come. As long as it serves to help the team there I am.
"I reach the goals thanks to them. They are the ones who assist me. We work as a team to reach the goal or to whatever, always together."
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