Phil Foden joins exclusive Premier League club with Manchester City hat-trick
The Englishman netted his first from a free kick on the stroke of half time to put the Citizens back in front after Jhon Duran had previously cancelled out a 10th-minute opener from Rodri.
Foden, stepping up in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland who were both unused substitutes, then scored twice within the space of seven second-half minutes to complete his hat-trick, increasing his goal tally for the season to 21 across all competitions.
Having also registered 10 assists in his 44 appearances, Foden is the only English player to be involved in over 30 goals this season without taking a single penalty.
Foden is also the fifth player to reach at least 20 goals and register at least 10 assists across all tournaments while playing for a club in Europe's top-five leagues this season – four of those five are English including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Ollie Watkins.
Foden in esteemed Premier League companyAt the age of 23, Foden has now scored three Premier League hat-tricks, becoming just the fifth player after Robbie Fowler (seven), Michael Owen (seven), Kane (six), and Haaland (five) to net at least three trebles in the division before the age of 24.
Reacting to his man-of-the-match display against Villa, Foden told TNT Sports: «I'm just loving my football at the moment, playing with a smile on my face and trying to help the team. I know I am capable of scoring goals, and today I showed that so I am delighted.
»I always set myself [the aim] to do better than last season, get more goal contributions. I think I am up this year so I'm doing
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