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Written by Martin Graham | April 21, 2022
Manchester City’s midfielders Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne hit new milestones in their 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Foden, once described by City coach Pep Guardiola as the most talented player he’s ever coached, hit a half-century breakout under the Spaniard to become the youngest player ever to achieve the feat.
The 21-year-old beat Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets, who achieved his feat at the age of 22. Foden also became the youngest player to earn 50 starts under any Manchester City manager in the club’s history since Joe Hart in 2009.
The attacking midfielder scored it with his fifth goal against Brighton, the team that suffered the most at Foden’s hands. The England international scored the goal after a corner kick she was working with, before hitting a ball that veered strongly into Robert Sanchez’s goal at Brighton Center.
Foden now has a total of 93 Premier League games under Guardiola, scoring 23 goals and providing 11 assists. He is also on the verge of becoming the two-time Premier League champion if City maintains their momentum and finishes strong.
His midfield partner, De Bruyne, became the 39th player to make three years of appearances with the club.
The Belgian remained at City for six seasons after arriving from German club VFL Wolfsburg in 2015. He was a hugely influential figure in the club’s successes at the time, for which he was rewarded with a few PFA awards of the year.
He made his 300th assisted appearance by Bernardo Silva, taking his Premier League goals this season to 15 (11 goals and four assists) in 25 league appearances.
Meanwhile, Guardiola also got into the business with his own record, winning his 250th match with Manchester City.
The record was reached in 344 games at the helm of City, which also means that he is the fastest manager to reach this record, beating the previous record held by Jose Mourinho of 250 wins from 396 games.
Guardiola is close to winning his fourth title in five seasons at the club, and is focused on making sure his team finishes strong and deprives Liverpool of the chance to win four titles.
City are still on their way to winning the UEFA Champions League and with their 3-0 victory over Brighton, they are one point ahead of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table. The Spaniard admits they have to win every game from now on.
“The feeling today is that we are now playing athletes in the Champions League. “People can say it’s normal but it’s not,” Guardiola said in his comments on the match afterwards.
“Just look at the great teams that are fighting to get into the Champions League. Now for the Premier League, we are not stupid.
“If we only lose two points, Liverpool will be the champions. If we win all the matches we will be champions. The players know that.
“We know the tough matches we are going through and we have to try to perform like today and win all the matches. If we do that we will celebrate, if we don’t we will congratulate Liverpool.”
