MANCHESTER, England - Phil Foden has an incredible gift for scoring goals, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said after his young forward scored a sublime hat-trick in a 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa on Wednesday that kept them on course to retain the Premier League title.

With City's league-leading scorer Erling Haaland an unused substitute, Foden stepped up, finding a gap in Villa's wall with a superb free kick just before halftime to net his first goal.