If Phil Foden performs so do Manchester City. This truism was reiterated by his two-goal show that helped sweep Pep Guardiola’s improving team to 10 points from four games at the stage’s halfway juncture.
Factor in Erling Haaland who decorated his captaincy for the evening with a 27th goal (for club and country) and Waldemar Anton’s 72nd-minute jab home was solely an irritation.
But after the strike Borussia Dortmund had more moments – Karim Adeyemi missed at point-blank range – and so despite Rayan Cherki’s fourth in added time, Guardiola is sure to remind his charges to disallow the opponent from wresting the initiative as the visitors did for the closing phases.
The bottom line, though: City are close to the cohesive proposition that makes them formidable. The ceiling is again high for the 2022-23 treble winners – just where Guardiola would want the side before Liverpool’s visit on Sunday.
Guardiola trained the squad on Wednesday morning, preferring to give players Tuesday off following Sunday’s “so demanding” 3-1 win over Bournemouth here. This rare move – “I’ve done it a few times” – caused the eye to look for any discernible impact on their rhythm seven or so hours after being put through the drills.
