The maturity of a Manchester City midfielder stood out against Everton | OneFootball

Erling Haaland grabbed the headlines as Manchester City beat Everton 2-nil at the Etihad Stadium yesterday. Haaland’s second-half brace effectively ended yesterday’s match as a contest in the 63rd minute. Outside of Erling Haaland’s performance, several other City players caught the eye yesterday. One of those players was Phil Foden. Foden played a key role in his team’s win, and his growing maturity as a player stood out across the full 90 minutes at the Etihad.

Phil Foden played a key role for Manchester City in their win over Everton.

In the first half of yesterday’s match, Manchester City weren’t at their fluent best. They had chances to open the scoring, as did Everton, but there was no cohesion to City’s play in the first half. They often missed the free man when they had possession, and Everton set up well defensively and defended resolutely during the first half. The beginning of the second half of yesterday’s match started in a similar fashion. That was until Phil Foden played in Nico O’Reilly in the 58th minute with a defence-splitting pass to allow O’Reilly the opportunity to cross for Erling Haaland to head Manchester City into the lead. Foden picked his moment to break open the game, and Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead in style.

Phil Foden was at it again five minutes later. It was Foden’s turn and quality pass on the edge of the Everton area that found Savinho on the left wing. The Brazilian international picked out Erling Haaland, who beat Jordan Pickford with a quality finish to put yesterday’s Premier League fixture to bed. Those two moments showed that Foden is picking his moments better as to when to attack City’s opponents. Foden is maturing as a player, and that has stood out so far this season.

Pep Guardiola was pleased with Phil Foden’s performance against Everton and believes that Foden will get better.

Speaking after Manchester City’s 2-nil win over Everton, Pep Guardiola was delighted with Phil Foden’s performance against Everton. The Manchester City manager also believes that Foden will improve as the season progresses. Speaking on Foden’s performance, Guardiola said: “He is fine, he is enjoying himself, he is smiling and his body language in training is fantastic.”

“The way he moves, he always creates something. The first half was more difficult because we couldn’t find who was the man free, but the rest was really good.”

“Phil can make a step and play like he is like we remember in the past. Last season we were not in our best, but Phil every season has been extraordinary. Always.”

“You cannot play all the time in sixth gear. You have to use tempo. It was a question of time that he would improve, and not all the time can be explosive. You have to work and make the rhythm. Step by step, he will be better. Like a good wine, with time, he will be better.”

Phil Foden’s growing maturity as a player stood out against Everton yesterday. Since moving into a midfield role this season, Foden has been picking his moments better as to when attack City’s opponents. Foden has always seemed destined to play in midfield for Manchester City. He just needed to mature as a player to do so. It seems that moment has arrived as Foden has been a key player for Pep Guardiola’s side this season and he remains one of Manchester City’s most important players.