City and Foden step up at the right time

PHIL'S MIDFIELD MASTERCLASS PUTS BLUES IN THE GROOVE

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

FORGET Savio, maybe City need to sign another Brentford set-piece analyst- or just sit back and enjoy the homegrown lad scoring hattricks for them in the Premier League.

The Blues have already raided Brentford twice and it was only last week that Pep Guardiola was praising the work of Jack Wilson together with Carlos Vicens in producing goals from dead balls in successive matches. Five days on, Brentford were celebrating as Ivan Toney cleverly blocked off Nathan Ake to allow the ball to bounce all the way through to Neal Maupay for the striker to slot home the opening goal.

It was everything Guardiola had feared about Brentford, a side who had done the double over them last season and shown in their meetings an ability to neutralise the Blues and then punish them with precise play. It was also the sort of goal the manager would have been mocked for during his first season in England - a Route One effort smashing through and more making impact on on the scoresheet than City's buffet of good chances missed.