With a 4-1 victory over Champions League-chasing Aston Villa, Manchester City maintained their lead in the Premier League title chase thanks to a masterful hat-trick from Phil Foden.
Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were benched by Pep Guardiola the day after he defended his star striker against Roy Keane’s criticism. This allowed Foden to steal the show with an incredible performance and his second hat-trick of the season.
The 23-year-old restored City’s lead with a free kick late in the first half, cancelling out Rodri’s opening goal. Two more superb goals just after the hour mark sealed the victory, bringing Foden’s total for the season to 21 goals for City.
After their first victory over a top-five team this season, Pep Guardiola’s team is still in third place, one point behind leaders Arsenal and even with Liverpool, who visit Sheffield United on Thursday.
Although the table hasn’t moved much, the champions’ performance was much more fluid in these days after Arsenal’s streak of 57 straight home games ended in a goal.
With the Champions League trip to Real Madrid the following week, the decision was made to leave out De Bruyne and Haaland. However, neither player has played at their best since recovering from injury in recent weeks.
