Manchester City players celebrating Erling Haaland’s goal in the Manchester derby (Credit: AFP)
Phil Foden has already notched up 18 goals along with 10 assists across all competitions this season and was undoubtedly the spark that ignited Manchester City’s comeback last night.
Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Rodri, Ederson, and the list goes on. Manchester City is most definitely short on any world-class talent. But, manager Pep Guardiola surprisingly named yet another player as the ‘best player in the Premier League’ after their successful 3-1 romp over Manchester United last night.
The star of the show last night was none other than 23-year-old Phil Foden. And it is him that Guardiola believes is playing the absolute best football in the entire league currently.
“He loves football, he lives to play… He will be a legendary player.” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Phil Foden is already the player of the season pic.twitter.com/5zcWzF9UYy
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 3, 2024
“It is the amount of games he is playing. He was always a talented player but now he is more mature and understands more the game, especially defensively,” stated a jubilant Guardiola.
“He can play middle, right, make moments and cut inside, play in the left, scoring from the left. What can I say? He is the best player in the Premier League right now for the amount of things he does. Unbelievable.”
“We don’t negotiate over that, the guy who doesn’t do that doesn’t stay in the team. He loves football, he lives for football. He is a joy and his work ethic is unbelievable.”
Well, Pep wouldn’t be wrong in lashing out all the praise. Foden has been a lethal weapon for City this season. The English youngster has already notched up 18 goals along with 10 assists across all competitions this season and was undoubtedly the spark that ignited Manchester City’s comeback last night.
Following a wonder-strike from United’s Marcus Rashford that gave the visitors the lead, City struggled to finish on all the threatening chances they created in the first half.
The closest they came to equalising was at the brink of halftime when Haaland was clear on goal, mere inches away from an easy tap-in, as a delicious headed cross from Foden floated into the box. But, the tall Norwegian just couldn’t find the back of the net, as he opted to shoot it high above the crossbar.
But, out came Foden with a vengeance in the second half, to deliver a stunner of his own, cutting in and slotting an absolute rocket from outside the box, which found the back of the net as it nestled its way into the top corner, leaving Onana helpless.
But, Foden’s exploits did not end there.
With the momentum now back with City, Foden and Julian Alvarez embarked on a swift give-and-take, as the two just deftly kept the passes quick with Alvarez finally laying it off inside the box for Foden to take one touch and slot it into the bottom-right corner of the United goal to finally take the lead.
To end the might, Man City’s Rodri capitalised off a Sofyan Amrabat error in United’s final third, allowing the Spaniard to just tap the ball into the box from where the looming Haaland calmly finessed one around Andre Onana onto the bottom left corner of the goal to make it 3-1 and drive the final nail in the coffin.
