by The way Phil Foden took Brentford apart had a chilling effect. Instead of a store of flicks and tricks, Manchester City’s attack only needed to think faster than its opponents, avoid its markers with the brilliance of its movement off the ball and show zero uncertainty every time it was in front of goal.
The small surges were too much for Brentford to handle. While some stand in front and make life easier for defenders, Foden never stops. He does not admire his passes and does nothing for show. Nothing is wasted and nothing is frivolous. Other startups should take note. Foden is always moving, always hunting for space, and Brentford didn’t know how to pin him down.
Related: Manchester City cut the gap at the top as Phil Foden led a rally at Brentford
On another night Ethan Pinnock’s errant attempt to clear Kevin De Bruyne’s cross on the stroke of half-time would not have yielded such a devastating penalty. Foden, however, was wary. Was he lucky to be in the right place when Pinnock’s header fell from the sky? Probably not. It is more likely a sign of his intelligence. Foden was ready. There was no one around him when he pulled City level at the end of the semi-final, which was notable for one decent opener from Neal Maupay and some heroic saves from Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
It was not an easy 45 minutes for the champions. Sometimes they were in danger of sinking into the Maupayverse, a strange, disorienting world, where one very annoying striker argues with everyone and spends a lot of time wasting opposition free kicks.
For a while nothing went right. Julian Álvarez, Erling Haaland, Josko Gvardiol and De Bruyne failed to beat Flekken and City were behind when the Brentford goalkeeper pumped a goal kick in front, at which point Ivan Toney called for something of a ghost assist, his presence simple enough to stop Nathan Aké. and make room for Maupay to run through and slip a low shot past Ederson.
City could have crumbled at that time. They lost twice to Brentford last season and were almost 2-0 down when Sergio Reguilón hit the far post. Ederson reacted well to stop the ball from going in. It was a crucial moment.
It wasn’t long before Foden had his say. There is more maturity to his game: more edge, more determination, more determination to take games by the scruff of the neck. He already has 15 goals for club and country this season. He got 16 last year.
The challenge is to keep pushing the boundaries. Foden was hardly a part-time player for City. He added vital goals and played in plenty of big games. But when City were driving towards the treble last season, Foden was not a regular starter. He was on the bench when City faced Manchester United in the FA Cup final and Internazionale in the Champions League final, although he came on and made a positive impact after replacing the injured De Bruyne in the first half.
Foden will hope that has changed. He was nominally deployed on the left against Brentford, although he was really free to roam. There was no fixed point. City’s traditional wide players, Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb and Jérémy Doku, were on the bench. Guardiola opted for interchangeable creators instead, with De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Álvarez and Foden jinking behind Haaland and taking turns with wide moves.
He came over. Pinnock paid for losing his focus and it didn’t take much for City to score again after half-time. De Bruyne did the damage again, crossing from the left, and nobody saw Foden’s run. Alone in the area, untracked on his run, he was free to slide a header past Flekken.
There was no way back for Brentford, although they fought hard and had a few chances to equalise. The City have always been able to raise their level. The goal was a case in point killer. Brentford must have thought they were safe. Their shape was good. They had players back. They were defending with discipline.
Phil Foden’s hat-trick earned Manchester City an important comeback win over Brentford – and also took the weekend’s total over 10 top-flight games to 45 – a new record since the Premier League was relegated to 20 teams in 1995.
The previous high mark of 44 has been achieved twice – in 2021 and 2023, overtaking the 43 goals scored in February 2011. 53 is the highest goal total in the Premier League era, set on the weekend final of the 1992-93 season with 22 teams.
45 goals (3-5 February 2024)
Everton 2-2 Tottenham, Brighton 4-1 C Palace, Burnley 2-2 Fulham, Newcastle 4-4 Luton, Sheffield Utd 0-5 Aston Villa; Bournemouth 1-1 Nottm Forest, Chelsea 2-4 Wolves, Manchester Utd 3-0 West Ham, Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool; Brentford 1-3 Manchester City.
44 goals (29 April-2 May 2023)
Brighton 6-0 Wolves, Brentford 2-1 Nottingham Forest, C Palace 4-3 West Ham; Bournemouth 4-1 Leeds, Fulham 1-2 Man City, Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa, Newcastle 3-1 Southampton, Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham; Leicester 2-2 Everton; Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea.
44 goals (19-21 September 2021)
Everton 5-2 West Brom, Leeds 4-3 Fulham, Man Utd 1-3 C Palace, Arsenal 2-1 West Ham; Southampton 2-5 Spurs, Newcastle 0-3 Brighton, Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool, Leicester 4-2 Burnley;
Aston Villa 1-0 Sheffield Utd; Wolves 1-3 Man City.
43 goals (5-6 February 2011)
Aston Villa 2-2 Fulham, Everton 5-3 Blackpool, Man City 3-0 West Brom, Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal, Stoke 3-2 Sunderland, Spurs 2-1 Bolton, Wigan 4-3 Blackburn, Wolves 2-1 Man Utd; Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool; West Ham 0-1 Birmingham.
53 goals (8-9 May 1993)
Arsenal 3-0 C Palace, Blackburn 1-0 Sheffield Wed, Coventry 3-3 Leeds, Ipswich 2-1 Nottingham Forest, Liverpool 6-2 Spurs, Man City 2-5 Everton, Middlesbrough 3-3 Norwich, Oldham 4-3 Southampton, Sheffield Utd 4-2 Chelsea; QPR 2-1 Aston Villa, Wimbledon 1-2 Manchester Utd.
But Foden would make a master class in how to pierce a low block. He turned a pass from Rodri and went away immediately, going forward, the damage done even though the ball was elsewhere. This is how scoring goals looked easy. Brentford could see what was happening but it was too late. Haaland played the pass, a beautifully loaded header, and Foden had all the time in the world to take it in his stride, settle himself and slide a shot past Flekken.
It was an unstoppable goal from a fearsome team. As for Arsenal and Liverpool, the scary thing is that City do not rely on Foden. If it wasn’t for De Bruyne, Álvarez or Haaland. They have so many weapons, so many ways to win, and it seems to have done wonders for Foden’s development knowing that he is not under pressure to solve every problem by himself.
