Phil Foden spearheaded Manchester City’s comeback following an incredible blunder by Erling Haaland, propelling them to a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in a lopsided derby that starkly highlighted the gap between the two Premier League adversaries on Sunday.
At halftime, City found themselves trailing 1-0 courtesy of Marcus Rashford’s powerful long-range strike in the eighth minute and an astonishing miss by the usually prolific Haaland from close range.
However, Foden redeemed the situation where Haaland faltered earlier, unleashing a thunderous strike to level the score in the 56th minute, before calmly slotting home another goal in the 80th minute following a well-placed pass from Julian Alvarez.
City manager Pep Guardiola expressed his confidence in Phil Foden’s goal-scoring abilities, stating, “I always had the feeling he would score goals. Right now, he is winning games.” Foden, the 23-year-old England forward, notched a double in the match, bringing his tally to 17 goals this season across all competitions—an achievement marking a career high for him.
“He is our standout player of the season… No one has been as crucial for us as he has been this season.”
Despite his earlier miss, Haaland managed to redeem himself by capitalizing on a defensive lapse, slotting home City’s third goal in stoppage time with their 27th shot of the match.
After scoring his league-leading 18th goal of the campaign, Haaland theatrically collapsed to the ground in mock relief, celebrating alongside Foden. This dynamic duo had previously scored hat-tricks each in City’s 6-3 victory over United last season, once again inflicting damage on their rivals.
City, sitting in second place, closed the gap to just one point behind Liverpool with 11 games remaining in a tightly contested title race that seems destined to be decided in the final moments. Should Arsenal defeat Sheffield United on Monday as anticipated, the margin between the top three contenders will once more narrow to just two points.
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