Prior to the Brentford game, Haaland had played against 21 teams in the Premier League, breaching 20 of them, and the only one who narrowly escaped was Brentford. The two teams met again, but Haaland did not hurt the killer, but allowed Foden, who had the hottest foot, to complete the finish.
But in the first half, Manchester City's tactical tilt towards Foden was actually not high: Rodri also said after the game that the whole team of Manchester City was like playing chess, and De Bruyne was the "king" of it, and all everyone had to do was to do their own duties around this king. After his return, De Bruyne scored one goal and provided four assists in 240 minutes of playing time as City won nine in a row in all competitions.
But in the first half, City didn't really go well. The Blues almost beat Brentford into a sieve in the first half, but the opposition goalkeeper Flecken made nine saves in the half, and although only four of his 14 long balls were successful, he also provided one assist: with this goal kick assist, Flecken surpassed many others in the Premier League's assist list, such as Manchester United's Antony......
At the end of the day, Brentford's low-post defense is indeed key, but the Bees have been ruthless this time, and the defensive resources in the midfield are mostly hoarded on the wings to prevent Manchester City from penetrating in the ribs. The trade-off was that Brentford's defence at the top of the arc was not adequate, with City having 17 first-half shots, nine of them from outside the box.
In terms of shots on target, Manchester City had 8 shots and 3 shots on target in the box, and 9 shots and 6 shots on target outside the box - as long as they can strangle Haaland's response and block Manchester City's penetration in the ribs, Brentford will not mind Manchester City firing from outside the box.
The opponent blocked the edge and put it in, and the top of the arc could easily get the ball, and Foden's opportunity came. The equaliser in the first half, De Bruyne's cross caused chaos, and Manchester City formed a three-man local advantage in the penalty area, which was the most suitable for Foden's game: because the first stop was extremely silky, Foden had enough room to adjust before shooting, and the angle of the shot was not tricky, but the force was accurate, and finally passed Flecon's ten fingers.
In the second half, Foden got more freedom, and his position was gradually fixed on the right rib, but he didn't have many opportunities to get the ball, and more often he was running back and forth: his second goal was the opportunity to run the ball all the way out of Brentford, and he relied purely on spatial observation to drive the opportunity of his teammates to pass.
In his third goal, he saw that the distance between Brentford's backfield and the midfield line was widened, and then one penetrated deep into the hinterland, deliberately receiving the ball to help Haaland protect the passing line, and then the two played a switch Foden slick the ball in the penalty area instantly past the opposing defender, and then calmly scored a hat-trick, ranking fifth in the Premier League with 15 goals this season.
Directly involved in eight goals in his last six games, Guardiola also retracted his previous criticism of Foden: "Foden is really good, he has good scoring and assisting ability. You'd be hard-pressed to find a player who can connect all the techniques in a tight space, he's like a knife, he's very aggressive and he can score as well. ”
The real test for Manchester City and Phil Foden will be in March: they will face feuds with Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal this month, and the Champions League knockout tie against Copenhagen will also be on schedule, and Foden's performance will be the X-factor for Manchester City this season.