They thought they can score us first and win the match but we showed them that this is Etihad,you can’t win us in our Home’: Man city Star Phil foden says He could have scored Hattrick today if not for ONE Man United player that stopped him
The board went up as the 90th minute approached. There was arguably enough for eight given some of the timewasting that had gone on and the substitutions, yet City hadn’t made the match safe and eight minutes was given the day before when Liverpool changed the title race at the death.
Pep Guardiola called for more and more was duly given as Rodri pounced on sloppy play from United and fed Erling Haaland for the third. The Norwegian seemed to call for the Poznan and the crowd delivered, any scare forgotten and Liverpool now in the crosshairs.
Making it even sweeter, that City could celebrate with such joy and relief was largely down to one of their own. When they needed a focus for their play and some incision, up stepped Phil Foden to give the watching Guardiola and England manager Gareth Southgate more evidence of what should be clear to both by now: Foden must be an automatic pick in their teams.
Not only did Foden get the Blues back into the game after a shocking start, he took responsibility to put them ahead in it. Having done all that, he still had the energy to force United substitute Antony to put the ball out late on, before roaring to the crowd beside him.
Guardiola had his hands above his head, clapping, for it was all he could do. There could be no notes for City’s homegrown superstar on a day when he single-handedly turned this one around for the team and kept them pointing forward.
City came into this game with a proud unbeaten record, both in all competitions dating back 19 games and at the Etihad dating back 16 months. Not since November 2022 had they been beaten at home when Brentford outplayed them before the Qatar World Cup, while it has also a felt an age since they were second best at Villa Park back in December.
They had also comprehensively bested United when they met at Old Trafford earlier in the season. Yet that remained their only resounding win against a top-six team, with points dropped in frustrating fashion at home to Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea in recent months.
March has long been pinned as the crucial month, the time when the answer to exactly how good City are can start to be explored seriously. Just how much of their recent winning run was down to the standard of opposition not being as top as it could have been?
If everyone is honest though, nobody thought United would be a serious marker. Only the most nervous Blues could have predicted a situation where City trailed at half-time having had 17 shots to United’s two.
Such is football though. United turned City round at kick-off by deciding to attack the South Stand and then silenced it in the eighth minute when Marcus Rashford thumped an unstoppable effort past Ederson from a Bruno Fernandes knockdown in what must have been one of their only completed passes to that point.
They barely managed many more in a first half where City dominated the ball but couldn’t find the back of the net. Andre Onana saved well from Foden but Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva were wasteful and Haaland had already missed one simple header when he contrived to smash over the bar when an empty net from Foden’s header was gaping; he won’t miss many worse in the long career ahead of him.
Everything pointed towards United being unable to repeat that defending and luck for another half, but City knew they had to take it into their own hands if they were to improve. Not for the first time this season, Foden stepped up.
The previous minute had been chaos. City were appealing for Jonny Evans backheeling the ball off the pitch when it was out of play and referee Andy Madley – who had been slack on Onana wasting time all game – appeared to be ready to take action, only for Kyle Walker to try to take the throw quickly and lose possession.
United countered and Ten Hag was furious when Rashford went down easily as Walker challenged him and the ref played on. As the United manager threw a water bottle, Foden grasped the game and unleashed a rocket into the top corner.
It was his 17th goal of the season to make it the best of his career so far, and the 600th goal City have scored under Guardiola at the Etihad. However, good as those achievements are City are hunting bigger prizes so Foden switched wings, exchanged passes with Julian Alvarez, and blasted home a second goal.
City made the game safe in injury time thanks to Haaland and can now look ahead to Anfield, hoping that Foden was not forced off with injury when he eventually headed off the pitch. For all Liverpool seem to be doing everything they can in the title race, the Blues are right behind them.
This was the sixth time in 11 league games they have been behind at half-time and United had not lost from a winning position at half-time in the Premier League since September 2014. More records are made and more are consigned for the bin, but meanwhile City remain on course to defend the three trophies that they won last season.
There will be the usual skittishness around Anfield given the horrible record City have there and the way Jurgen Klopp is trying to seal a fairytale ending to his time at Liverpool. But there will also be Foden, threatening to make this not just his day or week or month but his season.
