'I Have to Keep Scoring': Foden Targets More Goals After Man City Hat-Trick

Phil Foden scored a hat-trick and set up another goal as Manchester City beat Greek champions AEK Athens 5-1 at the Etihad on Tuesday night, and the England forward says he wants to keep the goals coming.

Foden also grabbed an assist in Enzo Maresca's side's win, which got them back on track in the Champions League. It was City's 150th game in the competition and a good answer to last week's 4-2 home defeat by holders Paris Saint-Germain.

The result also lifted a bit of a cloud over Foden. He was sent off in last month's Manchester derby and had gone without a goal since December until the weekend. Now he has four goals in four days.

City went ahead when Elliot Anderson poked home his first goal for the club, after fellow summer signing Enzo Fernandez hit the crossbar with a free-kick. Foden then scored from a pass by Rico Lewis. Seven minutes after the break, Stavros Pilios pulled one back for AEK. It was the first goal City had ever let in against Greek opposition, after four clean sheets against Aris and Olympiacos. Foden hit back by setting up Rayan Cherki and then adding two more strikes of his own.

Speaking to the club's official website, Foden picked his second goal, the one into the top corner, as his favourite. 

"I enjoyed that a lot. The lads were great again. We showed determination again, it wasn't pretty at times. We were giving sloppy passes away. But, we stuck at the game plan and we kept going and in the end we broke them down. Overall I'm delighted," he said.

He added: "[My favourite goal is] probably the second to be honest. The way it went in. I'm delighted to score goals now, I'm a forward so I have to keep scoring and helping the team. It'll only do good for my confidence."

Foden, who has had two up and down seasons, said he is still working his way back to his best. "Slowly but surely [getting back to my best], still got a long way to go. I'm going in the right direction. Scoring along the way definitely helps."

He also enjoyed playing as a false nine. "I've just got to keep working hard and try to be as best as I can for the manager and for the team. Especially when I changed into the false 9 role, I really enjoyed it a lot. In between the lines and in the pockets where I like to be and linking the play. I really enjoyed that role tonight."

With top scorer Erling Haaland left on the bench after a recent injury scare, Maresca gave Champions League debuts to young players Floyd Samba, Allan, Ryan McAidoo, Vitor Reis and Kaden Braithwaite.

Foden's treble took him to 23 goals in the competition proper. That puts him ahead of Steven Gerrard, who has 21, and level with Frank Lampard among Englishmen. Only Harry Kane (57), Wayne Rooney (30), Raheem Sterling (27) and Paul Scholes (24) are ahead of them.

City are dealing with a injury crisis, and Foden said he is trying to help the younger players along with captains like Ruben Dias and Haaland. 

"Just trying to help them as best as I can, along with the captains, like Ruben [Dias] and Erling. Trying to help the young ones.

"It shows the trust the manager has. We've got a lot of injuries at the moment and he's not scared to use the young lads. They've been playing really well so they deserved to play tonight. I'm really happy for them."

City now turn to the Premier League, where they have a perfect start to protect. They travel to Aston Villa on Saturday for a 12:30 WAT kick-off, with Haaland rested and Foden in form.