They thought they can score us first and win the match but we showed them that this is Etihad,you can’t win us in our Home’: Man city Star Phil foden says He could have scored Hattrick today if not for ONE Man United player that stopped him

At the stroke of ninety minutes, the board went up. Given the amount of time wasted and substitutions, it could have been eight minutes, but City still hadn’t secured the win and eight minutes had already passed the day before when Liverpool made a last-second title change.

After Pep Guardiola yelled for more, United’s carelessness allowed Rodri to seize the opportunity and set up Erling Haaland for the third goal. Any apprehension has been dispelled, and Liverpool is now the target, as the Norwegian appeared to summon the Poznan, and the crowd duly obliged.

What makes it even more special is that one of City’s own was largely responsible for their ability to rejoice and feel relief. It should have been obvious to Guardiola and Southgate that Foden should be an automatic starter for their teams when they needed a focal point and precision in their play, but Foden came through for them anyway.

After a shocking start, Foden not only helped the Blues get back into the game, but he also accepted responsibility for putting them ahead. After all that, he mustered up the strength to make United substitute Antony clear the ball in stoppage time, and then he let out a roar to the crowd that stood by his side.

All Guardiola could do was raise his hands in the air and clap; it was his only move. On a day when he single-handedly turned the game around for City and kept them moving forward, the homegrown superstar could not have received any praise.

With an impressive undefeated record spanning 19 games across all competitions and 16 months at the Etihad, City entered this game with confidence. They hadn’t lost at home since Brentford beat them in November 2022, just before the World Cup in Qatar, and it felt like forever since they were second best at Villa Park in December.

When these two teams met earlier in the season at Old Trafford, they were also soundly defeated. Even so, they only managed that one convincing victory against a top-six side; their home losses to Spurs, Chelsea, and Liverpool in the past few months were frustrating.

For a long time now, March has been marked as the pivotal month, the one in which City’s true quality will finally be investigated. To what extent did the quality of their opponents’ play contribute to their recent winning streak?

But let’s be honest: no one anticipated United to be a major contender. City went into halftime down 17–2, with United having two shots on goal. Only the most anxious Blues could have foreseen this outcome.

But that is football. After turning City around at kickoff by going for the South Stand, United finally silenced them in the eighth minute on what must have been United’s few completed passes up until then—a thunderous effort by Marcus Rashford off a Bruno Fernandes knockdown that Ederson could do little to stop.

In the first half, City had most of the possession but failed to score despite their dominance. Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva were careless with the ball, and Haaland, who had previously missed a simple header, managed to smash the ball over the bar as an empty net appeared from Foden’s header; he will not miss many worse in his lengthy career. On the other hand, Andre Onana made a good save.

It seemed like United wouldn’t be able to sustain their defensive stance and good fortune for another half, but City were aware they needed to step up if they wanted to get better. Foden has come through for the team multiple times this season.

There had been anarchy just one minute ago. Referee Andy Madley, who had been lenient on Onana’s time-wasting throughout the game, seemed prepared to act when City appealed for Jonny Evans to backheel the ball off the pitch when it was out of play. However, Kyle Walker lost possession while trying to take the throw quickly.

Ten Hag became enraged as United countered and the referee continued to play on despite Rashford’s easy fall due to Walker’s challenge. Foden snatched the ball from the United manager’s grasp and sent a rocket into the top corner as the manager tossed a water bottle.

Not only did City score their 600th goal at the Etihad Stadium under Guardiola, but he also scored his best goal of the season with 17 goals. Foden switched wings, exchanged passes with Julian Alvarez, and blasted home a second goal, but City are chasing bigger prizes, so those accomplishments are good.

Thanks to Haaland’s late goal, City were able to secure the victory and move on to Anfield, where they will be hoping Foden’s eventual exit from the field was not due to injury. Despite Liverpool’s best efforts, the Blues are not far behind in the race for the championship.

Halftime deficits have occurred six times in eleven league games for United, who had not lost a Premier League game after being up 1-0 at the break since September 2014. City is still on track to defend the three trophies they won last season, even though more records are being set and more are being thrown out.

Given City’s dismal record at Anfield and Jurgen Klopp’s efforts to cap off his tenure at Liverpool with a fairytale ending, the usual nervousness will be present. In addition, Foden will be there, and he poses a threat that this will become his season rather than just his day, week, or month.