Videos Live Scores Podcasts Opinion Interviews Business of Sport Inside Story Football Cricket Tennis Formula One Golf NBA UFC UAE Racquet Sports Fitness

Phil Foden shows he’s ready to step up for Man City after starring in Community Shield

Aditya Devavrat

20:23 05/08/2018

Manchester City were comfortable winners in their Community Shield fixture against Chelsea, lifting their first silverware of the season after a 2-0 victory.

Young Englishman Phil Foden was given a berth in the starting XI, a chance for the youngster to establish his first-team credentials, and he took it well, grabbing an assist.

Here’s a closer look at his performance.

KEY STATS

Goals – 0

Assists – 1

Shots – 1

Shots on target -1

Key Passes – 3

Passing Accuracy – 76%

Dribbles – 2

30-SECOND REPORT

Foden was a menace throughout, thanks to his pace and dribbling ability. He took advantage of some slack Chelsea defending to exploit the space that was on offer, and was good on the ball throughout.

By City standards, his passing was a little below the mark, but he showed composure when it counted, setting up Sergio Aguero for the opener.

GOT RIGHT

Pace – Foden’s ability to run at the defence marked him out as one of the biggest threats for the Chelsea rearguard. The danger his pace posed pushed the Blues back whenever he was on the ball.

Dribbling – Chelsea’s retreat brought his dribbling and close control to the fore, however, as he had space and time on the ball, which he used well.

GOT WRONG

For a City midfielder to have a passing accuracy rate of 76 per cent is almost unheard of in the Pep Guardiola era. There was nothing particularly careless – indeed, he pulled off a few brilliant passes as well, but a fair few went astray. He’ll have to improve as a more consistent distributor to merit a regular first-team place.

VERDICT

This was a strong performance from City’s 18-year-old, who has been considered a star in the making for some time. He justified the faith that’s been placed around him over the last year, showing that he can fit in among City’s bigger stars. There’s plenty to improve, but Sunday’s performance showed that he deserves more first-team minutes this season.

RATING: 7/10

More from english-premier-league

From Morocco to Abu Dhabi: Zakaria El Jamari’s incredible martial arts journey

French-Algerian Anissa Meksen gets chance to be first to claim new ONE Championship gold

Adrian Lee’s ONE Championship debut confirmed as he looks to further family legacy

NBA 3X ABU DHABI an unparalleled success with legends LaMarcus Aldridge and James Worthy in attendance

ONE Friday Fights 59: French-Algerian looks to maintain KO momentum in headliner

New ONE Championship king Alexis Nicolas ready to fight ‘the world’

Most Popular