Manchester City kept its breath in defending its Premier League title on Wednesday evening, beating Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium, moving it within two points of leaders Arsenal.
In a game of squad depth, it was Phil Foden who stole the show, earning huge praise from Pep Guardiola for providing the kind of inspiration “that can’t be drawn on a tactics board”.
Despite Guardiola making six changes heading into Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, City remained relentless.
Foden, who made a rare start, proved to be the difference-maker, scoring two impressive goals. His first was a moment of pure magic – a crafty back-heel strike set up Antoine Simenho’s opening goal – before he turned the ball back to Omar Marmoush to double the lead.
“You need quality, spark, talent, vision, something,” Guardiola said of Foden.
“He’s not in the tactical boards, not in the meetings, not in the videos, not even in training. (Foden) receives the ball in small spaces and creates something.”
The 25-year-old’s performance comes at a critical time, both for club and country. While Foden is considered to be out of Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad due to limited minutes this season, his display was a timely reminder of his global ceiling.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Foden remained humble about his role in the team: “I had a good first half of the season, dropped a little bit, and then struggled to find my place. You have to be patient, train as hard as you can, and when you get your moment, you have to seize it.”
The win increases the pressure on Arsenal, which will face Burnley on Monday. If Arsenal falter, City must overcome a Bournemouth side who currently enjoy an impressive 16-game unbeaten record, before a final day clash against Aston Villa on May 24.
“The goal is to keep the pressure on and keep them on their toes,” Foden added.
“We’ve seen a lot of things can happen on the last day. I’ve had it a few times when the game doesn’t go our way. We just have to keep pushing and do our part.”
Palace coach Oliver Glasner, whose team is ranked 15th with 44 points, said: “Today City were much better than we were, and they were very good for us.” “If you want to get to this point, or even beyond that, here at Etihad Airways, you need high performance, and we were not able to deliver high performance today.”
