Foden inspires City as Haaland sets latest benchmark

MANCHESTER, England — Thomas Tuchel, are you watching?

Phil Foden sent an emphatic reminder to England's head coach with two brilliantly taken goals in Manchester City's 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"He is back," City manager Pep Guardiola said.

"He is a special player."

After overlooking Foden so far this season, and with time running out before next year's World Cup, Tuchel will name his latest England squad this week.

But the City forward strengthened his case for a recall with an inspired performance against Dortmund. He scored in each half at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland — of course — smashing home his 27th of the season in between. Substitute Rayan Cherki got the other after Waldemar Anton scored for Dortmund.

Tuchel is set to announce his squad Friday for the final World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, with England having already secured qualification.

Foden has rediscovered some of his best form this season, after enduring a frustrating campaign last term as City relinquished the Premier League title. His goals on Wednesday — both swept low into the bottom corner — took his tally on the season to four and could have come at just the right time to capture Tuchel's attention.

"There's no person in this country, or around the world, that doesn't know his quality and ability, but England is so lucky to have this amount of good players," Guardiola said. "In his position, there are a lot, and that's why he has to push himself to be better and better and better."

Foden's omission from England's four games this season has been a talking point, with players like Eberechi Eze, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon all adding to the competition for places.

Despite being widely regarded as one of the most gifted English players of his generation, Foden is still to show any kind of consistent form for England.

And it appears he is yet to fully convince Tuchel of his worth, after not being selected by the German since England's home World Cup qualifier against Latvia in March.

"Thomas is so smart and wise and knows exactly what the team needs," Guardiola said.

"I think Thomas knows perfectly (about) Phil. What Phil wants to do is to play better and better and better."

This term, Foden has shown flickers of the form that saw him win a clutch of "player of the year" awards two seasons ago.

"You learn a lot when you're going through a tough patch," said Foden, whose individual drop off came during a collective collapse at City last season.

"It's just about speaking how we can get back on track and try and be the team that we used to be, and I think, this season, we're seeing glimpses of that."

Norwegian's high five

Haaland set another scoring benchmark in the Champions League after finding the back of the net for the fifth consecutive game for City in European club soccer's elite tournament.

According to City, the Norwegian is the first player to achieve that feat with three different teams, having previously done so with former clubs RB Salzburg and Dortmund.

His latest goal — a powerfully struck effort from close range — was his 54th in 52 games in the Champions League. Lionel Messi has the record for reaching 60 goals in the fewest number of games — 80. Haaland looks certain to beat that — possibly before the league phase of this year's tournament is completed.