Foden has his swagger back as Man City thrash Dortmund
At half-time, a caption on the big screens at the Etihad Stadium flashed the words “vintage Phil Foden” as the midfielder’s masterful opening goal was discussed.
Vintage? Foden is only 25, but we know what they meant. After all, he has already achieved so much. It was double-vintage by the end as Foden scored an even more special second goal, Manchester City ultimately defeating a dangerous Borussia Dortmund side 4-1 to move up to fourth in the Champions League table.
Both goals came from outside the penalty area – no Premier League player has scored more than Foden’s 11 from that part of the pitch over the last three seasons – as he ran the show.
In one of those quirky little statistics, Opta later declared that Foden was the first player to do so in the Champions League on Bonfire Night for 17 years, since a certain Alessandro Del Piero achieved that for Juventus. Not bad company to keep, even if the stat is pretty meaningless.
Foden’s contribution certainly was not. He even eclipsed City’s captain on the night, Erling Haaland, who of course scored yet another goal to take his Champions League total to a ridiculous 54 in just 52 games. The Norwegian is now in ninth place on the all-time goalscorers list, just two behind Ruud van Nistelrooy in eighth. It is also 27 goals for the season for Haaland, for club and country. And we are only in early November.
For Foden, his two goals were special – he now has 20 in this competition, two ahead of Ronaldinho – but what felt even more important was the swagger and the confidence he showed. A bit like the Brazilian, he popped up all over the place. Foden wanted to be the main man, the oil in the machine, the conductor. And City are so much better when he is in this form.
Foden, as the No 10, in that 4-1-4-1 formation that Pep Guardiola now favours, wanted the ball, demanding it, always trying to make things happen. He made every one of his 71 touches count. In the past few weeks and months we have seen him inching back to being the player he was two seasons ago as he swept all the individual prizes and, following his difficulties, this was the most emphatic evidence yet that he is back.
There was even a cheeky wink as he pulled off his trademark “sniper celebration” after scoring the goals. For the first he was pulled into the crowd by the City fans with one using the opportunity to take a selfie with him. Foden grinned broadly.
“I’m loving it [football at the moment]. I need to play with a smile on my face, which I’m doing,” Foden said.
“Last year was tough, not just for myself, but for everyone.
“You learn a lot when you’re going through a tough patch. We have great captains and we talk about how we can get back on track.
“We’ve added great players to the squad too, who have bought real hunger and togetherness.
“This season, we’re seeing glimpses of the team we used to be.”
Guardiola was even more emphatic. “Phil is back,” the City manager declared. And it really does look like he is. Will he be in Friday’s England squad named by Thomas Tuchel? Probably not. It is too early and, in truth, he just need to keep enjoying his club football and see where that takes him. It is just a joy to see him happy and thriving on the pitch again.
“Listen, Thomas is so smart and wise and he knows perfectly Phil,” Guardiola said. “All Phil wants to do is play better and better and better.
“There is no person around the world that does not know his quality. England are lucky to have a lot of good players which is why Phil needs to push himself.”
Even before he scored, it looked like Foden was doing just that – pushing himself. He looked in the mood. He looked, maybe, like he was making a point on this stage and he had his trademark running style back. The one where he takes the ball, surges forward, chest out and looking up. In the manner of Paul Gascoigne, scanning.
“When Phil is at that level, playing between the lines and in the pockets, his turn, his fight, he is happy,” Guardiola said. “He is a special player and we need his goals. He is a top-class player and we missed him a lot.”
And the goals? Foden had already stung the palms of Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel with a quick shift of the ball and a drive from 20 yards.
If that was power then it was soon followed by precision as Foden was picked out by Tijjani Reijnders in that smart area of space – a “pocket” – in front of the Dortmund centre-halves and behind their midfielders. Nico Schlotterbeck did not know whether to stick or twist and so Foden bent his shot around him and beyond Kobel’s dive.
Foden’s second goal came when he again combined with Reijnders. His first touch made it, taking the ball across his body before he swept in another low shot in a far tighter pocket of space. Ramy Bensenbaini even tried to push Foden over but it made no difference.
In between, Haaland scored. Inevitably. Jeremy Doku surged through, cutting the ball back and the striker hammered it home. Simple.
It was the fifth Champions League game in a row in which he has scored, becoming the first player to do so for three different teams – RB Salzburg, Dortmund and now City.
“Every time I come to the press conference you tell me he broke a new record,” Guardiola said.
But, for once, it was not his night. It was Foden’s.
Dortmund did strike back, with Waldemar Anton side-footing in after some poor defending, and City substitute Rayan Cherki threatened to overshadow Foden’s goals with a lovely individual effort of his own. His shot took a deflection, though, taking away a little of the shine.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
