No hugs please:
THE first touch from Kevin De Bruyne’s pass to take him past Adam Webster was sublime and followed by that familiar turn of acceleration as he glided across the 18-yard line.
Lewis Dunk was scrambling back but Phil Foden (right) had already spotted an opening low to Robert Sanchez’s right and brushed a superb finish with his wrong foot into the bottom corner, beyond the reach of the Brighton goalkeeper.
There was something Messi-esque about it: that perfect first touch, the turn of pace, the balance and control as he created the space and the confidence to take a shot of unerring accuracy on his weaker right foot.
“I don’t score too many with my right foot so I enjoyed it,” Foden (above) said.
It was the work of an experienced, top class striker – Sergio Aguero, isolating back at home, for one, would have loved it – not a young midfielder who is still not old enough to legally drink in some countries.But, then, perhaps it is time we stop talking about Foden’s promise and enjoy the player he already is.
Outright
The goal was the Manchester City and England midfielder’s 10th in 25 matches for club and country already this season and makes him his club’s outright top scorer this term.
“He’s got a special instinct in front of goal, with the left and right foot,” Pep Guardiola, the City manager, said. “I try to judge day by day.
“Phil leads his life 24 hours to play football. There are a lot of distractions around our lives but you see his behaviour and he’s happy when he’s training and playing. The rest you can see in his performance.”
It was a good job Foden impacted this game as he did, too, because with City unable to get that second goal despite having good chances, Brighton remained within touch of a point, even after Raheem Sterling had skied a penalty over in stoppage time after Sanchez fouled De Bruyne, who Guardiola said was too “exhausted” to take the spot-kick himself.
Watching Graham Potter’s side move the ball around with a confidence and swagger, you would not believe they are perched precariously above the relegation zone and they made City work extremely hard for their seventh consecutive win in all competitions and sixth clean sheet in the past eight league outings.
“I thought our players were fantastic,” Potter said. “I thought they left everything on the pitch. They showed great personality.”
Victory moved City into the top four and within clear sight of Man
United and Liverpool, over whom they have a game in hand. The final half hour would have been more comfortable for Guardiola had Riyad Mahrez not shot wide from Joao Cancelo’s fine pass, Ilkay Gundogan found a finish past Sanchez or Bernardo, collecting the rebound from the Brighton goalkeeper’s save and nutmegging Ben White before lashing a shot at goal, not been denied by the angle of bar and post.
Last season, City might have failed to see this game out but, defensively, they are so much more robust these days and there was another imperious showing in central defence from Ruben Dias and John Stones.
If City do wrest back the title this season, it will be on the back of those solid foundations and each player’s steadfast commitment to their defensive duties. As uncowed as Brighton were, their effort typified by Alexis MacAllister and league debutant Percy Tau, the blunter reality is that they failed to carve a chance of any real note, despite flashing a few balls across City’s sixyard box, and there can be no greater compliment to Guardiola’s rearguard than that.
City were again operating without a recognised striker. In fact, no striker has scored for City in the league since November 8 but with Foden carrying this sort of goal threat and other malleable midfielders chipping in too, Guardiola will not be too concerned for now.
Foden’s goal was a masterclass, even if Brighton might have had a shout for a foul by Dias on Tau in the build-up, and the only black mark in these Covid-wary times came when he was mobbed by seven team-mates, all eager to congratulate the youngster on his exquisite intervention, as clear a breach of the Premier League’s coronavirus protocols as you will see.
Foden’s goal capped an exemplary showing. His quicksilver movement, intelligence in and out of possession and threat on the ball quickened Brighton heartbeats, and there was one delicious moment when he performed a double pirouette, Maradona style, to take him away from two bamboozled yellow shirts before he was bundled over. He’s some player, that kid. (© Daily Telegraph, London)