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Guardiola 'proud' of Foden after 'fantastic' strike to sink Chelsea
The 20-year-old forward scored a fine goal to put his side 2-0 up, earning lavish praise from his boss after the game
Pep Guardiola was delighted to see Phil Foden take centre stage on Sunday as the youngster's goal helped Manchester City to a comfortable 3-1 win over Chelsea.
Foden, 20, started at Stamford Bridge as part of a much-changed City starting XI, following the club's woes with coronavirus in the past week.
City were missing the likes of Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy for the weekend's Premier League clash, but nevertheless proved too much for Frank Lampard's charges who were comprehensively outplayed over the 90 minutes.
Ilkay Gundogan, Foden and Kevin De Bruyne all found the scoresheet in the first half before Callum Hudson-Odoi netted a late consolation for the hosts, but it was the England international who stood out for his manager.
"So proud - he never dropped one bit of his energy he can play up front in all four positions," Pep told Sky Sports when asked about Foden's exploits.
"He has a sense of goal, he scored a fantastic goal. We rely on him incredibly, for England and the national team, he will be a top player because he's so clever and calm.
"He made another great performance today."
Despite Chelsea's subdued performance, Guardiola insisted that his team had to work hard for victory and that the game could easily have finished with another outcome.
"[Chelsea] press and push in the first minutes, we suffered a little bit because we didn't concede almost anything except the goal in the last minute but we played really well," he added.
"The result is excellent at Stamford Bridge but the way we play was really great you can't win titles without playing like that.
"Chelsea are one of the strongest teams, they are suffering from the last game but you see the quality of their players and the bench. We had a plan we tried to play like we have in the past and it worked.
"The players were excellent in every way especially with the ball. We cannot play like other teams, we have to play in our rhythm and attack in the right moment. We won titles in that way, more patient. We missed a bit of this tempo and today we had it.
"We don't have the physicality and quality of players to make quick transitions, maybe Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne but the others haven't played with the ball. You create problems and that's what we have to do. From the keeper to the striker we have to put the ball on the grass, make 1000 passes and pick the right moment."
