Although praise for Phil Foden still echoes regularly, his season this year clearly has not reached expectations. However, in the rain in Manchester, the English midfielder finally regained his inspiration to play football, thereby helping Pep Guardiola's squad rotation gamble bring about perfect results.
Manchester City not only continued to nurture hopes in the Premier League title race but also had a favorable warm-up before the FA Cup final. Guardiola actively gave many key players rest, but the team still won convincingly against Crystal Palace.
Foden's appearance in a squad with many reserve players partly shows that his position has declined significantly compared to last season. From the 2024 Player of the Year title, Foden now even has to compete for a position with Rayan Cherki in 2026. Foden has not scored a goal this year, but he is the one who created a turning point when Man City faced difficulties against Crystal Palace's tight defense.
Guardiola still has great faith in his student as the club is preparing to award him a new 4-year contract, despite two disappointing seasons. And Foden responded with a classy performance.
You need quality, not tactical meetings or long training sessions" - Guardiola said after the match. Foden is the clearest proof of that.
The English midfielder played explosively in the last 15 minutes of the first half - the decisive period of the match. Guardiola also believes that the enthusiastic cheers from the Etihad stands can help his student regain confidence.
He feels the affection from the fans through applause. Foden needs to play an important role in the future of the team" - the Spanish strategist emphasized.
If Foden's form declined for most of the season, then in this match, he became the center in every important moment of Man City.
Guardiola made up to six changes in the starting lineup but still completely controlled the game. Erling Haaland was given a break and replaced by the attacking duo Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush - both of whom scored.
Semenyo opened the score after 6 goalless matches, before Marmoush doubled the gap with his second goal in the same period. Savinho then closed the victory with a late goal.
However, the center of attention was still Foden. He created a genius moment with a delicate backheel for Semenyo to rush down and finish to open the score - a situation that completely broke the very well-organized defensive system of Crystal Palace.
Foden continued to make his mark in the second goal when he perfectly controlled Josko Gvardiol's long pass before assisting Marmoush to turn and finish.
Man City started quite slowly and did not launch a shot on target in about one-third of the early minutes of the match. Crystal Palace even put the ball into the net after a shot by Jean-Philippe Mateta, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside error before that.
However, after breaking the deadlock, Man City quickly completely controlled the match. Crystal Palace continued to show dangerous counter-attacking ability, but the difference in the quality of the final squad still decided everything.
This victory helps The Citizens continue to put pressure on Arsenal in the Premier League title race, and create favorable psychological momentum before the FA Cup final with Chelsea.
