Phil Foden’s imperious hat-trick against Aston Villa revitalises Manchester City’s title challenge

If hat-tricks used to be Erling Haaland’s personal domain, a rival is emerging. The Norwegian may have the largest collection of match balls at Manchester City but he had a watching brief as Phil Foden scored his second treble of 2024 and his third in 19 months. For someone who isn’t a striker, Foden is contriving to outscore virtually all of them – if not his Norwegian teammate – and his evisceration of Aston Villa took him into previously uncharted territory. He now has 21 goals for the season, reaching 20 for the first time in his career.

And this was another victory City can attribute to their main men. It is just that it is a description with a difference now. Last season, it would have been a reference to Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne, the players with 52 goals and 29 assists respectively. This year, if the individual honours stay at the Etihad Stadium, the prizes will go not to Haaland but to Rodri or Foden. And as Haaland and De Bruyne watched on from the bench, Rodri and Foden underlined their importance by powering City to a restorative victory. The Spaniard got them underway, consigning the rarity of a first goalless game for City in 57 attempts at the Etihad Stadium to the past. Then Foden took over, his trio banishing another statistic. City had not won a league game against a top-five team this season, until they did so in emphatic fashion against a team who outshot them 22-2 in December.

The gamble of resting Haaland and De Bruyne – officially because of the proximity of Saturday’s early kick-off against Crystal Palace, though Real Madrid may have played a bigger part in Pep Guardiola’s thinking – turned into rather less of a risk. Partly because Villa’s resources were arguably still more stretched than those of a City team also without Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Ederson. Yet, because Foden and Rodri remained they sufficed, in ultimately spectacular style.

There was the now familiar script of the Spaniard delivering an important goal; he hardly even seems to deliver another kind and if the teamsheet conferred more responsibility on him, he grasped it. Rodri stole in unchecked to meet Jeremy Doku’s low cross to rifle a shot into the roof of the net. The beaten, but blameless, goalkeeper was Robin Olsen, a late addition to the line-up when Emi Martinez withdrew with illness. And while City won the derby of the depleted and while Olsen conceded four, the absence of the World Cup winner scarcely felt pivotal, considering the quality of the finishing.

And, indeed, a costly error. On the stroke of half-time. Foden whipped a free kick through the wall with Nicolo Zaniolo contriving to jump out of the way. Presumably this wasn’t what Austin McPhee, Villa’s hyperactive set-piece coach, had taught his charges but City’s initial irritation that Douglas Luiz had not been given a second yellow card for a foul on Foden gave way to delight at a lead being restored.

It felt symbolic that his second goal, taking the game beyond a sometimes enterprising Villa side, stemmed from a combination of the star men, Rodri strolling forward with deft footwork to set up Foden for a first-time finish. His third was a rising, rasping shot from 20 yards after winning the ball back himself.

It ensured that Villa remain the last team to beat City, but in December, 24 matches ago, and made this the antidote to Sunday’s stalemate with Arsenal; it was a more action-packed affair – though it would be hard to have less goalmouth action – as City were more fluid and more vibrant. If some second-string players seized opportunities, the decisive roles were played by two of City’s cornerstones.

But fresh legs brought an energy; each side had a spark, even without some of the familiar faces. And Villa’s goal came from men usually found on the bench.

A specialist substitute, Jhon Duran was afforded a rare outing from the beginning. The injured Ollie Watkins’s deputy compensated for the top scorer’s absence in the best possible fashion, finishing adeptly after a one-two with Morgan Rogers. It was just Duran’s second Premier League start, only Rogers’s third, but the rookies looked undaunted.

There was an enterprising element to Villa but they ended up suffering an 18th defeat in their last 19 league visits to the Etihad Stadium. Arguably, it could have been heavier. With Haaland unused, Julian Alvarez led the line and showed an elusiveness. He hooked a shot into the side-netting after two minutes and perhaps should have scored when released by Rico Lewis, but Olsen made a fine save. The Swedish goalkeeper then tipped his header over. He saved well from Bernardo Silva, too, and was kept busy as City amassed 24 shots, with Sergio Gomez striking the post in injury-time.

But the other second-choice goalkeeper had his moments, too. City needed Stefan Ortega to repel a Douglas Luiz effort and a header from Clement Lenglet in swift succession. A few minutes later, Rodri set up Foden for his second as they proved City’s new deadly double act.