Man City 4 Aston Villa 1: Sensational Phil Foden scores hat-trick as champions keep up pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool

WHO needs Erling Haaland when Phil Foden is in this kind of form?

The Norwegian was given the night off by Pep Guardiola after coming under fire for his performance against Arsenal on Sunday.

PA

Getty

Getty

Yet he was barely missed as another boyhood blue took centre stage once again with a 24-minute hat-trick.

It was a second treble of the calendar year for the Three Lions ace who now has 21 goals this season.

Haaland has ONLY got 29 – and might have to start looking over his shoulder at this rate because his pal is in blistering form.

And one thing is for sure – nobody is going to say Foden looks like a League Two player at any time – not even Roy Keane.

He led Champions League chasing Aston Villa a merry dance all night in another irresistible display – as City sent out something of a warning to their title rivals.

The big news before kick-off was that Pep Guardiola chose to leave out Haaland – just a day after calling him the best forward in the world.

Midfield talisman Kevin De Bruyne was also on the bench – no doubt with one eye on Saturday’s early kick-off at Crystal Palace.

Villa were without several key men and fielded what looked a scratch team before suffering another blow during the warm up.

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World Cup winning keeper Emi Martinez, who was named in the starting line-up, had to pull out due to illness so Robin Olsen was drafted in.

He could have been picking the ball out of his net in the first couple of minutes as Julian Alvarez – deputising for Haaland – swung a shot into the side-netting.

But the home crowd – who saw their team draw a blank on Sunday for the first time in 57 matches – did not have to wait long for a goal.

Foden sent Jeremy Doku away down the right and his low cross was swept into the roof of the net by Rodri.

A VAR check showed the winger was just onside and City had the perfect start.

Yet the lead lasted only nine minutes as Jhon Duran played a delightful give and go with Morgan Rogers and slotted past Stefan Ortega into the far corner.

It was the Colombian’s first league goal since September, and he was getting his chance due to Ollie Watkins’ injury.

And it was also a nice moment for his mate Rogers – who spent four years on City’s books without ever getting a chance.  

Villa looked dangerous on the break and for a while fancied their chances of a first league double over City in more than 60 years.

But most of the best chances were falling at the other end to City.

Former Villa skipper Jack Grealish was getting some ferocious stick from the visiting fans and sent a volley inches wide just in front of them.

The £100 million man has been challenged to have a big end to the season by Guardiola and looked up for it here.

Alvarez could have had the match ball in the first half as he was denied by the outstretched foot of Olsen and floated a free-kick just over.

So when Foden won his team another in a similar position in first-half stoppage time, the England man took responsibility.

His left footed strike seemed to catch Olsen by surprise as he barely reacted as it fizzed past him into the corner.

Or maybe his wall let him down – Rogers and Nicolo Zaniolo could have stood up stronger.

Whoever was to blame, it was another special moment for Foden who is having the season of his life.

Olsen had to be alert to tip over a header from Alvarez just before the half-time whistle as City were starting to look more like their old selves.

What a contrast it had been to Sunday’s bore draw against Arsenal

The chances continued to come after the break with Olsen reacting well to tip away a shot on the turn from Bernardo Silva.

And from a lightning break, Leon Bailey played in Doulgas Luiz but his shot was tipped over spectacularly by Ortega.

The German keeper had to be on his toes to push away Clement Lenglet’s header from the resulting corner too.

Those saves looked particularly important as City extended their lead just after the hour.

Rodri weaved his way past a couple of defenders before rolling into the path of Foden whose low shot from 20 yards was deadly – bouncing in off the post.

And just seven minutes later he completed his hat-trick as Villa failed to clear their lines and Alvarez smuggled the ball into the path of Foden.

He thumped a beauty from 25 yards right into the top corner – giving Olsen no chance – to round off his third hat-trick for City.

That’s 30 goal involvements now this season for Foden. What a night for him. In fact – what a season.

See how the match unfolded below….

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