Miserable Brentford loses to Phil Foden hat-trick as Manchester City chases on Liverpool at the top.

Even though we are in awe of Manchester City’s international stars—Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne are starting together for the first time since the season’s first weekend—there is still something exciting about watching a local boy who came through the academy win a match.
In his early days at City, Phil Foden—dubbed the “Stockport Iniesta”—scored a remarkable hat-trick to help the champions overcome a threatening goal deficit and cut Liverpool’s lead in the Premier League to just two points. City also has a match to play.

With Foden looking like the coolest player on the field as he collected the three goals, just caressing the ball home on each occasion, no one else, even Iniesta, could claim an exquisite hat-trick.

He was clinical, ice-cold, and celebrated every hit by imitating a marksman. The ecstatic City supporters said, “He’s one of our own,” and Foden, a 23-year-old midfielder who joined the team when he was just four years old, is undoubtedly that as he scored his second hat-trick of a legendary career.
His numbers are spectacular; in addition to his goals, he scored 34 assists as he repeatedly maneuvered himself into hazardous situations. Brentford was just unable to handle it.

Pep Guardiola praised Foden’s cutting edge, saying, “He’s like a knife.” “You can tell a player loves to play when you see them playing like this on the street.” According to the City boss, Foden is even more highly regarded and may perhaps be De Bruyne’s succession. He continued, “He always had an eye for a goal.” “He has now played in 250 games and has contributed goals this season. He is amazing. His performance metrics are excellent.

Foden was just as cheerful, and he is also relishing the fruits of yet another tactical change made by Guardiola this season: the adoption of a 4-1-4-1 shape, which gives him more freedom to go inside. “I see myself in the middle, and I enjoy playing there. I’m hoping to play there for more game time,” stated Foden.

“I’m thrilled with my performance so far. I hope that continues since it’s the finest form I’ve had in a City shirt in a long time.
Gareth Southgate may also want to consider such positional shift in light of the upcoming European Championship. Without a doubt, it’s a ploy to get Foden into the England squad, and he has a strong case to be included.

With eight goals and seven assists in the league so far, Foden is second only to Mohamed Salah, Ollie Watkins, Haaland, and Son Heung-min in terms of goals involvement. His City campaign is at its strongest right now.
With the recent surge in goals, the Premier League round of matches now stands at 45, the highest number ever for a 20-team season. If Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken hadn’t played so brilliantly, there could have been several more goals.

After winning the league double over City in the previous season, they had gained the lead and may have imagined defeating them once more, but it was never a realistic possibility given the strength of Guardiola’s menacing squad, who are pursuing their rivals.
It looks like a difficult challenge to hold them at bay with De Bruyne, a threat every time he was in possession, and Haaland, who was double and triple marked, completely fit, and back for City. They have now won the FA Cup and the league seven times in a row after winning the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and scoring twenty goals. Their competitors were unable to capitalize on that pause.

Despite Ivan Toney’s comeback, Brentford is in alarming times as they have now conceded 26 points from winning positions. To be honest, though, anything less than a City victory would have been absurd given that Flekken made the most saves in the Premier League in just the first half, recording nine saves. And the most of them were very good.

Additionally, he claimed an assist, which was all down to Toney’s cunning and skill as he moved Nathan Ake out of the way to give Neal Maupay a clear path for a goal kick, which he scored. Did the attacker go offside? Since nobody else touched the ball, he is ineligible to be offside during a goal kick.

Then Foden took charge. It was vital to equalize in first-half injury time when Foden chested down De Bruyne’s risky floated cross after a terrified Ethan Pinnock misjudged it. The best players always seem to have more time, and Foden was no exception as he effortlessly passed the ball past Flekken.
The second goal was likewise a combination of De Bruyne and Foden, and the defence will have disappointed Brentford boss Thomas Frank once more. Despite being only 5 feet 6 inches tall, Foden was able to enter the goal unnoticed in the center and expertly direct another De Bruyne cross into the corner of the net.

When Rodri put the ball into Haaland’s feet, he promptly lay it off to Foden, who took it in stride from outside the penalty area and ran into it, to complete the hat-trick. Brentford was at fault once more since they did not attempt a challenge, and Foden easily side-footed home to complete the score. It really was that simple. Afterwards, he walked over to pick up the match ball and stand in front of the City supporters, giving the impression that everything was well.