Phil Foden scores hat-trick in virtuoso performance as Man City maestro achieves personal milestone

Phil Foden scored an incredible hat-trick and reached a personal milestone at Manchester City on Wednesday night.

Foden underlined his importance to Pep Guardiola ahead of a title race involving Liverpool and Arsenal with a fine individual performance against Aston Villa.

The 23-year-old scored three times against Unai Emery’s side, including his first ever direct free kick – although he perhaps has Nicolo Zaniolo to thank.

The England international grabbed his second to make it 3-1 against City with a delightful finish into the bottom corner after an hour before rising from the ground to plant a shot into the roof of the net moments later .

It was his 21st goal of the campaign in all competitions and his hat-trick took the attacking midfielder to 20 goals in a single campaign for the first time as a professional player.

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