Phil Foden scored a hat-trick as Manchester City bounced back from their defeat by Paris Saint-Germain with a 5-1 win over AEK Athens in the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Striker Erling Haaland was left on the bench by City coach Enzo Maresca, who saw his side respond to the 4-2 loss in Paris last time out.
Elliot Anderson opened the scoring in the 12th minute, reacting fastest after Enzo Fernandez’s free-kick beat goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli and came back off the crossbar.
City hit the woodwork again when Allan fired against the frame of the goal from a tight angle, before Premier League leaders doubled their lead through Foden.
Fernandez switched play to the winger, who exchanged passes with Rico Lewis and fired into the roof of the net. It was Foden’s second goal in successive appearances, after a run of 35 games without scoring.
Rayan Cherki came close to adding a third before the break but was denied by Brignoli at his near post.
AEK pulled a goal back seven minutes after the restart through Stavros Pilios, who found the bottom-right corner.
The Greek side’s hopes of a comeback faded within seven minutes. Cherki collected a pass from Foden on the edge of the box, left Kervin Arriaga on the ground and curled a left-footed shot beyond Brignoli.
