Manchester: Phil Foden struck a wonderful hat-trick as Manchester City made it 24 matches unbeaten across all competitions with a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.
The result keep City within one point of Arsenal following the Gunners’ 2-0 win over Luton Town, while Pep Guardiola side sit level with Liverpool ahead of the Reds’ meeting with Sheffield United on Thursday.
City were relentless in attack and it was no surprise when the opener came in the 11th minute. Driving from the right, Foden slid the ball down the line for Jeremy Doku, who picked out Rodrigo perfectly. The Spaniard didn’t have to break stride as he hammered it high into Robin Olsen’s goal.
Villa only required nine minutes to level, though, as Duran stayed onside and picked out the bottom-right corner superbly after Morgan Rogers’ sumptuous pass in behind caught City napping.
Foden restored City’s lead with a textbook free-kick on the stroke of half-time. He made it 3-1 shortly after the hour mark as City moved through the gears, stroking a first-time finish into the bottom-right corner upon taking in Rodri’s pass.
Foden’s third, arriving just nine minutes later, was the pick of the bunch as he shifted the ball onto his left foot before firing into the top-right corner from 20 yards out.
It’s his third City hat-trick and second of the season after a stunning display at Brentford in February.
Foden’s hat-trick was the 40th by a Man City player in the Premier League; only Liverpool (42) and Arsenal (41) have had more in the competition. Of those 40 Man City hat-tricks, 24 have come under Guardiola.
–IANS