Between 1927 and 1939, roaming outside-left Eric Brook registered 177 goals over 491 matches for Manchester City, setting a scoring record that went untroubled for 78 years.

Now, despite playing in five fewer seasons and just 264 matches, Sergio Aguero has surpassed that high by netting his 178th for City on Wednesday.

And what a moment to achieve the feat. In an excellent to-and-fro encounter at Napoli’s Stadio San Paolo, Aguero planted a finish into the bottom corner after a 69th-minute counter-attack.

Aguero had equalled Brook’s record in Oct. 21’s 3-0 stroll past Burnley.

Related: How Guardiola’s reimagining of Aguero revives his South American roots

Aguero hit the ground running in the northwest, scoring twice against Swansea City in his 2011 debut. And by the end of that season, Aguero firmly established himself in English football’s history books. The Argentinian slowed down time to skip through outstretched limbs and rifle past Queens Park Rangers’ Paddy Kenny to clinch the club’s first league title in 44 years – sweetly snatching it from the grasp of archrival Manchester United with seconds remaining – and test the vocal chords of commentator Martin Tyler.

There have been plenty of other moments during Aguero’s City stint that will be recalled long after he completes an expected triumphant homecoming to Independiente, his first club based in the province of Buenos Aires. City fans will remember his acute-angle goal past Liverpool’s Pepe Reina in 2013, his hat trick to secure a late victory over Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in 2014, and his five-goal haul to thump Newcastle United in 2015.

In little over six years, Aguero has staved off striking competition from Tevez, Dzeko, and Balotelli, and Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Wilfried Bony, and Kelechi Iheanacho. And despite a perceived “difficult” relationship between Aguero and the team’s newest striking addition, Gabriel Jesus, it’s potentially evolving into the most cohesive partnership yet.

At 29, there’s plenty of time for Aguero to distance himself for much longer than the 78-year cushion Brook enjoyed.