Foden already back to his best for Man City, claims Guardiola
Phil Foden scored two brilliant goals as Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund, and Pep Guardiola is thrilled he is back firing once more.
Pep Guardiola believes Phil Foden is already back to his best after his brace helped Manchester City down Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Foden scored in each half, with Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki also getting on the scoresheet for City, who had held Dortmund at bay after Waldemar Anton pulled a goal back.
The 25-year-old has now scored 11 goals from outside the box for City in all competitions since the start of 2023-24, the most of any Premier League player in this time.
This match was his 64th appearance in the Champions League, and though he netted his 19th and 20th goals, this is the first time he has scored more than once.
And Guardiola was thrilled with Foden's performance, believing it could be enough to secure him a place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
"I would say he is already there [back to his best form]," Guardiola told TNT Sports.
"He does not need to get closer. He is already there. It is true we have missed goals, and he got two incredible goals.
"How many times have we seen that from Phil, right? How many times? The generosity with the effort, but also with the quality in the final third. We missed it a lot. I'm happy three more players scored goals and not just Erling Haaland.
"Thomas [Tuchel] knows perfectly how good Phil is, and I'm sure he will do the best for your country."
City have won 11 of their last 12 games at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions (L1), including their last six in a row, all by two or more goals – their longest home winning run with all by two or more goals since May 2023 (nine).
In fact, they have now won 20 and lost none of their last 23 home group stage/league phase games in the Champions League (D3), with 16 of those wins coming by a margin of two or more goals.
It was a victory that moved City up to fourth in the Champions League table, two points behind Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter, who all have a perfect record so far.
"In the Champions League, Dortmund is always a top side. In the first 15 minutes, we did not know where we were, and after that, we had one or two long possessions and broke the lines and could run, which was better," Guardiola added.
"Then, for the 10-15 minutes after the goal we conceded, it was not good because they put five, six, seven players up front. They linked their runners quickly, but with five in the back, we finished the game good.
"Huge compliment, huge respect for these players because we are in a good position, maybe with a win against [Bayer] Leverkusen and a few more, we can be in the position to finish in the first eight."
