Foden hat-trick powers Manchester City to 5-1 win over AEK Athens

Phil Foden delivered a hat-trick as Manchester City put their Champions League campaign back on track with a commanding 5-1 victory over AEK Athens at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Foden struck in the 34th, 65th and 76th minutes, with Elliot Anderson opening the scoring after 12 minutes and Rayan Cherki adding a crucial third in the 57th. Stavros Pilios had briefly revived AEK’s hopes with a 52nd-minute goal, but City’s response quickly took the fixture beyond the visitors.

Anderson and Foden establish City’s advantage

Anderson gave City the early breakthrough in the 12th minute, setting the hosts on course for an evening in which they would enjoy 63.6% possession and register 17 attempts.

Foden doubled the advantage in the 34th minute with the first goal of his treble. That sent City into the interval 2-0 ahead, leaving AEK with a substantial task after the break.

Cherki answers AEK’s comeback threat

The visitors found a route back into the contest when Pilios struck in the 52nd minute to reduce the deficit to 2-1. Suddenly, City’s two-goal cushion had disappeared and AEK had something to build on.

That window of opportunity lasted just five minutes. Cherki made it 3-1 in the 57th minute, restoring City’s breathing room and providing the decisive response to the visitors’ challenge.

From there, Foden took centre stage. His second goal arrived in the 65th minute to extend the lead to 4-1, before he completed his hat-trick in the 76th to round off an emphatic home victory.

Clinical City make their chances count

City finished with seven attempts on target to AEK’s three, while also leading the corner count eight to three. The visitors produced 11 attempts overall, but their brief second-half revival was overwhelmed by the hosts’ finishing.

The pivotal passage came immediately after Pilios’s goal: rather than allowing uncertainty to grow, City restored their two-goal advantage through Cherki and then pulled clear through Foden. For AEK, hope proved fleeting. For City, it was a convincing European night with a hat-trick hero at its heart.