Guardiola: Goals run in Foden's veins (Reuters)
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said that Phil Foden has a great talent for scoring goals, after he scored a wonderful hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa yesterday, Wednesday, as the team continued its quest to retain the English Premier League title.
With Erling Haaland, City's top scorer and top scorer in the Premier League, on the bench, Foden found a gap in the Villa players' wall to score his goal from a wonderful free kick before the end of the first half.
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Guardiola explained, "His work ethic is amazing. He plays in midfield positions and has a great sense of goal. Goals run through his veins and we have to take advantage of him. He has a natural talent. The sky is the limit for Foden."
The 23-year-old English international completed his hat-trick with two goal shots seven minutes apart in the second half, including a massive shot from 23 meters, raising his tally to 21 goals in all competitions this season.
Pep continued to praise the young star: “He can do whatever he wants. He is a truly first-class player and we know that.”
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Guardiola also praised Foden's teammates, especially Rodri, who helped score his second goal.
He explained, "When we get there (in the final third), he (Foden) has good sense. He does not need a lot of touches to put the ball in the net."
He pointed out, "The most difficult thing in football is scoring goals and finding the person who puts the ball in the net. When you have that, it is definitely a gift for the team."
Although Haaland is the league's top scorer with 18 goals, Guardiola chose to rest his top scorer and midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, with a visit to Aston Villa in the league the day after tomorrow, Saturday, and a trip to Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next Tuesday.
Guardiola concluded, "The schedule is very busy, (matches every) 3 days. We need active players. We played just 3 days ago against Arsenal. We needed it because of the schedule, so we needed to rest."
Arsenal overtook Liverpool to take the lead with 68 points by defeating Luton Town - yesterday, Wednesday - while City occupies third place, equal with 67 points with Liverpool, which can return to the top if it wins over its guest Sheffield United on Thursday.
Source: Agencies