Man City 3-1 Man Utd: How Phil Foden has become Pep Guardiola’s go-to man – Danny Murphy

Phil Foden did not just score two goals to win Sunday’s Manchester derby, he grabbed the whole game by the scruff of the neck.

His whole performance in City’s 3-1 victory was outstanding. Physically he never seemed to tire, and overall he had the look of a player who is absolutely at the very top of his game.

As well as being supremely skilful and extremely fit, Foden is also a wonderfully intelligent footballer and he showed again against Manchester United that his decision making is one of the things that sets him apart.

By that, I mean when to dribble, and when to pass or shoot – and also, positionally, when to come inside and when to keep his width.

There is a debate about where he should play for City and England – but it really doesn’t matter because he is so comfortable across the line, on the left or right or as a number 10 in Pep Guardiola’s side behind Erling Haaland when Kevin de Bruyne is out.

Foden gets into the ’10’ position wherever he plays, because of his game intelligence, and of course he delivers too.

The thing you are always judged on when you are playing in forward positions is your end product and Foden’s is as good as it can be at the moment.

With 18 goals in all competitions, this is already the best goalscoring season of his career, and he is well on course to make it the same with assists too.

His progression is there for all to see – this is not a player who has stood still. He has got better and better, the more he has been integrated in the City team, and that has seen him become Guardiola’s go-to man at the age of 23.

Foden has already started more Premier League games this season than any other campaign and he seems to be someone who Pep trusts because he knows he is going to be a source of goals, wherever he plays.

So, Sunday’s display was far from a one off. Foden is shining in a wonderfully gifted City side and, at the moment, he is looking like their best player.

The only people disappointed to see him playing the way he is are Liverpool and Arsenal fans, because of the part he could play in deciding the title race. Everyone else can admire and be excited about what they see.

It’s wonderful for City, and for England too. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate was at Etihad Stadium on Sunday to see how well Foden played, but I doubt he needed it reinforcing how good he has been.

How City wear you down

Foden made sure City ended up taking the points but I actually thought United’s gameplan was a really good one.

Having Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo sitting, with Scott McTominay just ahead of them and Bruno Fernandes playing as a false nine, meant they could use the pace of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out wide.

Once United got their early goal, it gave them something to hang on to, and the level of discipline, commitment and defensive organisation they showed was as good as I’ve seen from them in a big game for a while. They got a draw at Anfield before Christmas, but Liverpool did not test them as much as City did here.

Casemiro and Mainoo in particular were fantastic in the first half but the whole team worked really hard and the best thing about their set-up is that they remained a threat on the counter-attack.

Bruno’s touch, when the ball went up to him, was excellent and really reliable, and the pace of Garnacho and Rashford was always dangerous because of City’s high line. With a bit more quality with their final ball, they could have gone further ahead.

So, there were plenty of positives for United manager Erik ten Hag but, ultimately, his side lost because they could not maintain their energy in the second half and, more than anything, because of City’s quality.

It was not laziness or a lack of desire that saw United make mistakes at the back towards the end, it was just that they were exhausted from chasing the ball, filling spaces, and covering each other for the whole game.

The way City come forward is just relentless and they did to United what they do to most teams they face, which is wear you down with their patience, and also their quick play and technical ability that just means they find a way through in the end.

Their first goal was a great example of that. Mainoo, who had been terrific and is a real star of the future, was only five or six yards away from where he’d been whenever Foden cut inside in the first half to deny him space, but this time he wasn’t quite there. It was not much of a gap, but it was enough – and then the strike from Foden is just incredible.

It was the same with Foden’s second goal. Casemiro got done by a quick ‘give and go’ pass which looked like it should have been stopped, but he had dealt with so many of them already. He didn’t let himself down, he was just worn down.

Why Liverpool will last the 90 minutes next week

To stop City you need to compete with them physically for the entire game, and one of the few sides I feel are capable of doing that is the team they face next in the Premier League, Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side came back to draw 1-1 at Etihad Stadium earlier in the season and they won’t struggle to last the 90-odd minutes, especially with the likes of Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez fit again.

As always, City’s trip to Anfield next weekend is a mouth-watering prospect, with so much quality on show.

Trying to predict what will happen is nigh-on impossible in these games but for me it is a case of being excited about seeing how they cope with each other, because it will be to-and-fro between attack and defence.

It’s not a title-decider, because Arsenal are in the mix and could be top by the time that game happens on Sunday, but it will go a long way to deciding who ends up champions – and the Gunners are probably going to be desperately hoping that it ends up being a draw.

Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.