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Phil Foden takes title race by the scruff as 'embarrassing' moment helps City beat Villa
Manchester City hosted Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Phil Foden scored a sublime hat-trick for Manchester City as they kept the pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool with a thumping 4-1 win over Aston Villa. Rodri and Jhon Duran were the first two goalscorers at the Etihad Stadium before Foden's brilliance decided the contest, which sees the Premier League's top-three sides once again separated by a single point ahead of Liverpool's game with Sheffield United on Thursday. Here, Express Sport takes you through four key talking points from the game...
Foden takes title race by the scruff
With a Premier League title at stake and an England No 10 jersey to fight for, Foden is embracing the pressure rather than cracking under it. A number of influential City stars were left out of the starting line-up on Wednesday night, and Foden responded by netting three memorable goals.
A slightly fortuitous free-kick got him off the mark with his first strike since the Manchester derby a month ago. And the 23-year-old followed that up with two more goals of supremely high quality - one going in off the post and the other flying home from long range, on a night which saw Foden send his stock soaring to new heights.
'Embarrassing' moment stings Villa
With the match finely poised at 1-1 as the clock ticked over into first-half stoppage time, and with Foden standing menacingly over a free-kick, Robin Olsen took plenty of time to organise his wall.
One thing Villa's back-up goalkeeper - standing in for Emi Martinez due to illness - couldn't have compensated for is Nicolo Zaniolo inexplicably splitting from Ezri Konsa and creating a gap for Foden to fire through. The City extraordinaire did just that, with TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist branding the mix-up 'shocking' and 'embarrassing'.
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Jack Grealish responds to Pep Guardiola
The winger's cameo against Arsenal on Sunday didn't go to plan, and Guardiola let him know as much with a post-match dressing down in front of the TV cameras. It was a different story for Grealish against his former employers.
Starting on the left with Jeremy Doku on the right, the 28-year-old had the look of a player with the bit between his teeth. Confident, hungry and adventurous in possession, Grealish put in an impressive performance against a tough opponent in Konsa, boosting his chances of getting a run in the side during the closing weeks of the season, and providing an emphatic response to Guardiola's well-publicised lecture last time out.
Pep Guardiola previews Man City's clash with Aston Villa
City heavyweights rested
Eyebrows were raised when Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and John Stones were named on the bench against Villa. Nothing less than three points would have done for the side starting the day in third place, and Guardiola was willing to take a calculated gamble.
In the end it paid off as none of the trio were needed. The City boss admitted Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace was the reason behind his curious team selection, and the Eagles will be braced for a Sky Blue onslaught when Haaland, De Bruyne and possibly Stones return to the side rested and raring to go.