Following the sacking of Alex McLeish in the summer of 2012, Agbonlahor was not chosen as interim captain by McLeish's successor, Paul Lambert. The Scotsman opted firstly for Darren Bent as skipper, before ultimately choosing new signing Ron Vlaar to wear the captain's armband in the absence of Stiliyan Petrov. Agbonlahor began the season injured, and could not make an appearance until the 1–1 away draw with Newcastle United on 2 September 2012. He later returned to full fitness and started the away match at Manchester City on 25 September. Agbonlahor managed to score two goals in the match as Villa secured a memorable 4–2 League Cup win (after extra time) over the Premier League champions at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 3 November 2012, he scored his first Premier League goal in just under a year against Sunderland in a run stretching 29 matches. On 6 April 2013, Agbonlahor scored his 60th Premier League goal for Aston Villa, making him joint top Premier League goalscorer for the club alongside Dwight Yorke. On 29 April, in a 6–1 win over Sunderland, Agbonlahor scored his 61st Premier League goal to overtake Yorke as Villa's highest all-time Premier League goal scorer. He scored two goals in a 2–1 win over Norwich on 4 May, moving Aston Villa up to 13th place in the Premier League.