Phil Foden put in one of his best displays as a
Manchester City player in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa , notching his second hat-trick of the season. Rodri had opened the scoring for City inside 11 minutes before Jhon Duran equalised nine minutes later. Foden’ s first goal came when he powered a free-kick through a brittle wall just before half-time. He went on to net two sublime finishes in the second period to wrap up the points. The result keeps up the pressure on
Premier League leaders
Liverpool, who play Sheffield United at home on Thursday evening. Here are three things fans may have missed during the victory over Villa. READ MORE: Man City player ratings vs Aston Villa READ MORE: Two new Man City undroppables confirmed Unforgiving Foden Many will have seen and applauded Foden stealing the ball back after being dispossessed and firing his hat-trick goal into the top corner. But what he did afterwards shows he has an elite mentality. The
England star - a non-negotiable starter for the Euros - was not about to dawdle after getting his treble. He continued to press the Villa defence and forced a number of other chances as a result. A hat-trick and your side being three goals up means
Job done, right? Not until the final whistle, if you're Foden. One of his best career performances to date. Liquid Lewis Rico Lewis is often asked to operate as a central-driving right-back in Kyle Walker's absence and at times against Villa, he was operating as an attacking midfielder. One-twos, marauding runs and defence-breaking passes - the youngster was often seen in and around the penalty D. The duty does not come without risk, though. As seen with Villa’s first-half goal, Lewis was caught upfield and could not track back in time when Jhon Duran squeezed home from the left angle. It's nevertheless a risk worth taking in the grand scheme of things. Grealish gripe justified Jack Grealish had a positive game overall in his first Premier League start of 2024. He won numerous free kicks and was generally fruitful in his play, showing his value to the treble-pushing squad once again. However, supporters are still being mindful about his tendency to cut back inside in nearly every attacking phase. He was the player fouled for Foden’s free-kick goal but when the ball broke to Grealish from six yards in the dying embers of the game, he cut back inside rather than shoot with his left foot in the open, and the chance was gone. Now is the time to improve on his versatility in order to maintain his line-up spot going forward.