Manchester City faced off against Aston Villa in a thrilling English Premier League match. From the first whistle, it was clear that City were serious as they dominated possession and created numerous goal-scoring opportunities. Their efforts paid off in the 18th minute when Bernardo Silva opened the scoring with a clinical finish.
Aston Villa tried to respond but found themselves overwhelmed by City's relentless attacking play. In the second half, Ilkay Gundogan doubled City's lead with a well-taken goal before Joao Cancelo added a third with a stunning strike from outside the box.
Phil Foden’s second hat trick of the Premier League season gave Manchester City a 4-1 win over Champions League-chasing Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
Jhoan Duran equalized when Foden opened the scoring with a pre-halftime free kick, adding two goals in the second half to give him 14 on the PL season.
If hat-tricks used to be Erling Haaland’s personal domain, a rival is emerging. The Norwegian may have the largest collection of match balls at Manchester City but he had a watching brief as Phil Foden scored his second treble of 2024 and his third in 19 months. For someone who isn’t a striker, Foden is contriving to outscore virtually all of them – if not his Norwegian teammate – and his evisceration of Aston Villa took him into previously uncharted territory. He now has 21 goals for the season, reaching 20 for the first time in his career.
 City kept nearly 70% of the ball and produced 2.85 xG while allowing just 0.73 and putting 11 of their 24 shot attempts on target. Villa might’ve scored twice on another day, but City also could’ve had six. Perhaps this was just a case of City sorting out a tactical set that had flummoxed them for about 125 minutes over two matches.
Aston Villa managed to pull one back through Ollie Watkins, City continued to press forward and sealed the victory with a late goal from Raheem Sterling. The final scoreline of 4-1 reflected City's dominance throughout the match and solidified their position at the top of the Premier League table.
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