Foden savours long-awaited goal after returning to action

“I’d been needing that for a long time!” Phil Foden summed up the relief he felt after scoring. The forward said the goal could help restore his confidence after a spell without finding the net. His return came after a three-match suspension. Left out of England’s World Cup squad because of his poor form, he did not make Enzo Maresca look wrong after the coach had predicted: “Tomorrow, he scores.”

The prediction was not an obvious one: Foden had not scored since 14 December 2025, against Crystal Palace, in a 3-0 defeat for City. “I always set myself high standards to try to score and assist. Because I’d gone a long time without scoring, I’ve just been trying to practise as much as possible in training and I hope it’s paid off,” he said. “I’ve finally done it and I’m really happy! The first one is always the hardest to score.”

Foden added that the goal could only be good for his confidence. He was named player of the match and summed up his feelings simply: “There’s no better feeling.” Speaking to the BBC, he said he had needed to be patient during his absence, sometimes training on his own, and described the experience as “quite frustrating”. “To get out on the pitch, score and get the three points… that’s what I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” he said of his return after his suspension against United.

Before the goal, Michael Brown had questioned Foden’s reduced playing time. The former City player raised, without presenting it as a certainty, the possibility of a knock or an injury that needed protecting and could have affected Foden in training. That remains Brown’s hypothesis.

Maresca could also consider using Foden as a false nine, with no natural replacement for Haaland. “The number 9 is Erling, but Foden has played in that position in the past, so he can do it again now,” the coach said. Foden, for his part, stressed his aim: to help the team as much as he can and do his job.