- Thrills Tuchel to boost his fading World Cup dream
Englishman Phil Foden delivered a virtuoso performance on Wednesday night, providing two crucial assists to ignite a 3-0 victory over uninspiring Crystal Palace, and moved Manchester City within two points of league leaders Arsenal with only two matches remaining in the Premier League season
In helping the Cityzens keep their title hopes alive by creating two goals in Wednesday’s night’s at the Etihad stadium, Foden also provided Thomas Tuchel a timely reminder of his qualities that could aid the Three Lions’ World Cup campaign in June.
At the moment, Foden’s place in the World Cup squad remains very much in doubt but he unquestionably made the most of a rare opportunity to start for City, with Pep Guardiola making six changes having Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea in mind.
At the start, the Cityzens looked devoid of a cutting edge with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all sitting on the bench. However, they broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute with their first shot on target when an ingenious backheel from Foden found Antoine Semenyo in the area with sufficient space to fire home.
Guardiola’s men doubled their lead shortly before the break and once again Foden was heavily involved as his clever control left Omar Marmoush with an opportunity that he finished confidently.
Foden eventually exited to a standing ovation from the Etihad faithful before Cherki teed up Savinho for his first goal of the season with just over five minutes to play.
The victory over Palace that takes City back to within two points of Arsenal after 36 matches each and the good news for Guardiola is that a much-changed team before Saturday’s FA Cup final did the business, with Phil Foden displaying the magic that easily makes him a force to reckon with any day.
However, amid the euphoria of thrashing Palace without mercy, the title is still firmly in the hands of Arsenal to lose. The Gunners are set to host Burnley on Monday and the chances of them dropping points to the relegated visitors are hugely slim.
