Phil Foden says Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola instructed him to ‘be lively’ and ‘make a difference’ at half-time before he came on and found an equaliser to rescue a point at West Ham.
The 20-year-old England midfielder missed out on a place in City’s starting XI at the London Stadium and watched on with frustration from the substitutes bench as Michail Antonio broke the deadlock with a sublime overhead kick.
Sergio Aguero’s injury woes continued and the striker came off at the break for Foden, who went on to make an immediate impact in the match.
The youngster turned well and beat Lukasz Fabianski from close range to level for City but the visitors were unable to find a winner, meaning they remain in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Asked what instructions he received from Guardiola before he was introduced, Foden told BT Sport: ‘Just to try to be lively and come on and make a difference. I tried to do that and we got the goal but couldn’t get the second.
‘We came out second half playing a lot quicker and more aggressive. I think we need to work on finishing our chances and we should be OK.
‘We started slow in the first half and weren’t passing quick enough. We didn’t have a good tempo but the manager spoke well at half-time and we played much better second half.
‘I enjoy scoring goals and I want to continue this form. It’s nice to be playing as much as possible. I love this club and I love playing for them.’
Foden added: ‘We would like to have got the points today, I think we played very well and controlled most of the game.
‘Very disappointed to not win the game but we will get over it tomorrow and improve on things for the next game.’
‘It was a frustrating game,’ he continued.
‘We had enough chances to win it but we’re disappointed we couldn’t get the second goal.
‘We know they were in good form going into the game, which is something the manager touched on beforehand. Their goalkeeper kept them in it, but we were just unlucky today.
‘It’s been a strange year. A lot of games are coming quickly so maybe some players are feeling it. Everyone has the ability to make an impact.’
‘It’s been a strange year. A lot of games are coming quickly so maybe some players are feeling it. Everyone has the ability to make an impact.’
