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The England international inspired City to a last-gasp win over Leeds.
Andy HampsonSunday 30 November 2025 12:00 GMT
open image in galleryPhil Foden struck a superb double against Leeds (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)
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Phil Foden now sees himself as a leader at Manchester City with a duty to ease the goalscoring burden on Erling Haaland.
The England midfielder played that role brilliantly with a double strike, including a stoppage-time winner, as City survived a Leeds fightback to snatch a dramatic 3-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
It maintained the 25-year-old’s return to form following his struggles of last season, having also struck twice against Borussia Dortmund, played a starring role in a defeat of Liverpool and been recalled by England in recent weeks.
Foden said: “I’m just feeling better about my game. I would say I’ve become more mature.
“I think now I’m one of the leaders as well, maybe not as a captain, but on the pitch.
“I have the hunger inside me. I managed to score two crucial goals to help us win the game.
“That’s the kind of player I want to be – deciding games and trying to be the player that people look to to try and make a difference.”
Foden’s brace, which began with a volleyed opener after just 59 seconds, were particularly welcome on a day when Haaland, chasing his 100th Premier League goal, was kept quiet.
City have been heavily reliant on the prolific Norwegian, who has scored 14 league goals this term, in the early stages of the title race.
Foden said: “If I look over the pitch, we’ve got loads of goalscorers but, for whatever reason, it’s not really kicked off yet.
“It can’t just come from Erling every game. When he’s fully marked out the game, other players have to step up.”
City looked to be cruising to victory after Josko Gvardiol added to Foden’s first in a dominant opening period, but Leeds rallied after the break as substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled one back.
Former City academy player Lukas Nmecha then levelled from a penalty rebound after Gvardiol fouled Calvert-Lewin.
That put Leeds and their under-fire manager Daniel Farke on course for a valuable point, but Foden’s late intervention condemned them to a sixth defeat in seven games.
“In the end, we managed to nick it,” said Foden. “We have to work on things and get things better because when the opponents get better in the later stages of the season, we can’t afford to come out like this because we’re going to lose the league.”
There was some controversy as Farke suggested City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down with a “fake injury” at 2-1, allowing opposite number Pep Guardiola to make decisive tactical changes.
The German nevertheless had plenty of positives to reflect on.
He said: “They should take lots of lots of pride and lots of confidence out of it. After so many sucker punches and against such a good side, to show such a performance should give us lots of belief.”