Phil Foden equalled Cristiano Ronaldo in the Premier League after his heroics for Manchester City in their 4-1 drubbing of Aston Villa.
Foden was simply a class apart against Villa on Wednesday and was rightly hailed for his masterful showing in midfield.
Rodri described the Englishman as a player with a “special quality” and went on to claim that “he is amazing.”
Ally McCoist explained how much like Paul Gascoigne, Phil Foden does not need to look at the ball when he is moving with it.
While that might sound like a fundamental part of the game most players adhere to, that is far from the truth, as several wingers in particular are often slated for putting their head down and running with the ball.
Foden, however, has clearly been coached by Guardiola and as a result, his footballing fundamentals cannot be called into question.
Against Aston Villa, the Stockport-born midfielder was in the mood to showcase why his technique is up there with some of the best players in the world.
Phil Foden equalled something Cristiano Ronaldo did in the Premier League against Aston Villa
Admittedly, there was a slice of luck involved in Foden’s free-kick going on to ripple into the back of the net.
Nicolo Zaniolo did not do his job properly in the wall, splitting away from his teammates to let the ball fly past the space he left past Robin Olsen.
However, the £225,000-a-week man’s finish for his second goal was sublime, especially as he took the shot first time and placed it perfectly.
Foden’s third and final goal of the game was a cracker, as his shot power was for all to see as put a nail into the coffin of the visiting Villains’ hopes of potentially staging a heroic comeback at the Etihad Stadium.
As Phil Foden scored the third hat-trick of his Premier League career against Aston Villa for Manchester City, he equalled Cristiano Ronaldo, who also scored the same number during his spell at Manchester United, as per Squawka on X.
However, the Manchester City midfielder not only went level with the Portuguese legend but also the iconic Chelsea pairing of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
The silky technician scored his second hat-trick of the season after bagging a treble of goals against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium as well.
Phil Foden is in esteemed company
Considering Phil Foden is not as much of a natural goalscorer as Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard or Didier Drogba, it is remarkable that he equalled their Premier League hat-tricks for Manchester City against Aston Villa.
After all, Ronaldo spent seven years in the league in total and while he was a young prospect in his first couple of seasons, he did go on to become the best player in the world at Old Trafford.
In addition, the Real Madrid legend returned to United in 2021 as well.
As for Didier Drogba, he was a natural number nine and one of the best to have ever graced the game.
The Ivorian spent eight years at Chelsea.
Frank Lampard might be the greatest goalscoring midfielder in English history and spent 13 years at Stamford Bridge.
When assessing the names Foden finds himself alongside in terms of Premier League hat-tricks and their careers in England, it is outstanding what he has achieved.
