Manchester City technician Phil Foden was seemingly tasked to play in a deeper central midfield role against Manchester United, a role where he ran the show unlike Bruno Fernandes.
Pep Guardiola believes Foden can become even better and in the Manchester Derby, he shone yet again — opening the scoring with an excellent headed finish.
On the other hand, Fernandes lost track of the Manchester City midfielder, giving him a free header inside the box.
The Englishman seemed to be instructed by Pep Guardiola to drop deep when City were trying to build out from the back, allowing Tijjani Reijnders to push forward as he still adapts to life at the Etihad Stadium.
Foden admitted he studied David Silva’s game and that was evident on Sunday as he similarly pulled the strings in the middle of the park.
Phil Foden showed Bruno Fernandes how to dictate a game during Man City vs Man United
Unlike Fernandes, Phil Foden largely played as a number 10 but he helped Manchester City progress up the pitch in deeper areas of the pitch with ease, a role the Manchester United captain struggled to perform.
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Despite being harried intensely by Ruben Amorim’s attackers, the 25-year-old shielded the ball, played smart one-twos with his teammates and showed off his terrific passing range and deft touches to help City beat the visitors’ press.
In a game where Rodri looked rather sloppy on the ball and understandably so after suffering ACL and groin injuries, Foden had the difficult task of helping City evade United’s press.
Pep Guardiola hugging Phil Foden during Manchester City v Manchester United
Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images
Pep Guardiola has always admired Foden’s talent and while he dictated the tempo of Manchester City’s build-up, he also impacted proceedings in the final third, scoring goals, creating chances and picking out his teammates in acres of space.
Bruno Fernandes, on the contrary could not help Manchester United get up the pitch as his passing was excessively risk-averse and yet he was wasteful while further up the pitch, he had little to no impact.
Foden is an attacking midfielder by trade but he taught Fernandes that one can adjust their game by being spatially aware, technically secure and taking smart decisions in deeper zones of the pitch.
Phil Foden vs Bruno Fernandes stats in the Manchester Derby
The six-time Premier League winner tends to rise to the occasion on derby day and once again, he has done so as well.
The stats indicate how much better Foden was than Fernandes as Manchester City earned a 3-0 win over their bitter rivals, Manchester United.
MANCHESTER DERBY STATS PHIL FODEN BRUNO FERNANDES
GOALS 1 0
ACCURATE PASSES 46/54 (85%) 59/70 (84%)
DEFENSIVE CONTRIBUTIONS 13 6
DRIBBLED PAST 0 1
Foden lost the ball just eight times while Fernandes ceded possession on 11 different occasions while even defensively, the former made 13 contributions while the latter made just six.
The Stockport-born star can be proud of his performance but as for the Portuguese international, he has to go back to the drawing board after his latest outing.