Foden’s hat-trick downed Aston Villa, Manchester City won 4-1

Manchester City beat Aston Villa 4-1 at home. The hero of the match was Phil Foden, who scored a hat-trick. Citizens did without Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland.

Manchester started very actively, in the second minute Julián Álvarez had a chance. But he missed the goal from close range. In the 11th minute they were already celebrating when Jeremy Doku’s centre from the right side was sent into the net by Rodri.

It was only then that Aston Villa started to get forward. Jhon Duran’s first finish came from offside. And in the 19th minute, from a regular position, he headed accurately to the back post. In a difficult position, he was a real killer.

It continued to be fairly evenly matched, with Villans failing to finish off some decent fast-paced action. In the 37th minute, Álvarez had his second big chance of the game. But Robin Olsen in the visitors’ goal stretched out and cleared the ball with his right foot.

In stoppage time, Manchester did get a shot off, Phil Foden’s left-footed effort from a direct kick. The Villans’ wall came crashing down. The home side missed two more chances before half-time and went into the box with the score 2-1.

Citizens were active in the second half, but both Bernardo Silva and Doku’s shots were saved by goalkeeper Olsen. Stefan Ortega also had to intervene twice on the other side, against Douglas Luiz and Clement Lenglet.

In the 62nd minute, the game was decided, with Englishman Foden scoring for the second time in the match with a shot from the right post. Just eight minutes later, he completed his hat-trick with a superb shot from distance that went under the crossbar.

The game was more of a back-and-forth affair after that, with Manchester still missing a couple of decent chances, the biggest of which was sent into the bar by Sergi Gomez. Citizens are now second for at least a couple of hours, a point behind Arsenal. Aston Villa remain fifth.

Video here.

Source: Premier League