Manchester City 5-1 AEK Athens: Foden leads a rotated side's rout
AI-written review based on match data · How we make it
Key numbers
- xG 2.92 v 0.78: City's edge in chances
- Six fouls, fewest in 10 matches this season
- 78 minutes ahead, none behind
Two early goals set the tone
Manchester City beat AEK Athens 5-1 at the Etihad and were in front for 78 minutes. Elliot Anderson struck in the 12th minute and Phil Foden doubled the lead in the 34th. AEK pulled one back after 52 minutes, but City never spent a minute behind.
Rotation barely dented City
City changed eight starters, with Erling Haaland and Rayan Aït-Nouri beginning on the bench. The new faces delivered: Anderson scored the opener and Rayan Cherki added the third in the 57th minute. Aït-Nouri came on in the 72nd minute with the match long settled.
The opener carried the most weight
Anderson's 12th-minute goal was worth +0.4 FN xPts to City, while AEK's FN xPts fell by 0.3, the biggest combined change of the match. It broke the deadlock. Foden's later goals came with City already well clear, so they hardly moved the FN xPts.
Sharper than usual, and cleaner
City's xG of 2.92 was above their average of 2.3 across ten matches this season, and 0.17 per shot beat their 0.14 average. They also committed just six fouls, the fewest in those ten. AEK took eight of their 11 shots from outside the box, and their xG per shot of 0.07 suggests they rarely found dangerous positions.
FN MOM
Highest FN Score · our own pick by a published formula, not the official Player of the Match
Phil Foden 9.9Dominant
He scored three goals, set up another and made three key passes across 90 minutes.
Foden earned most of his credit in attack, putting three of his four shots on target. His goals in the 34th, 65th and 76th minutes stretched the lead from 1-0 to 2-0, 4-1 and 5-1, and he also set up Cherki's strike in the 57th. He has three goals and one assist in the Champions League in two appearances.
Game state
1-02-02-13-14-15-1
Manchester City ahead 78 min · level 12 min · AEK Athens FC ahead 0 min
FN xPts — what each moment was worth
How much each moment changed that team's expected points (win 3, draw 1). A goal's value is credited 70% to the scorer and 30% to the assist. The value next to a team code is what the same moment did to the other side's expected points; the decisive moment is the one with the largest combined change for both teams.
12'
Elliot Anderson
Goal · AEK −0.3
+0.4
34'
Phil Foden
Goal · assist Rico Lewis · AEK −0.2
+0.2
52'
Stavros Pilios
Goal · assist Zini · MCI −0.3
+0.2
57'
Rayan Cherki
Goal · scorer +0.2 · assist Phil Foden +0.1 · AEK −0.2
+0.3
65'
Phil Foden
Goal · assist Rico Lewis · AEK 0.0
0.0
76'
Phil Foden
Goal · assist Ryan McAidoo · AEK 0.0
0.0
Manchester City
Expected (last two seasons) 2.4Own moments +0.9Opponent moments −0.3Time effect 0.0→ League points won 3
AEK Athens FC
Expected (no record yet, starting estimate) 0.5Own moments +0.2Opponent moments −0.7Time effect 0.0→ League points won 0
Expected points don't add up to a fixed total (a draw is 1 + 1), so an opponent's moment isn't simply the mirror of your loss. "Time effect" is the change as the clock runs down on a lead or a chase, and isn't credited to any player.
How FN Score and FN xPts work →
Match stats
Manchester CityAEK Athens FC
2.92Expected goals (xG)0.78
Compared with usual
Manchester City
10 matches this season, all competitions baseline
| This match | Avg | |
|---|
| Goals | 5 | 2.8 | |
| Conceded | 1 | 1.1 | |
| xG | 2.92 | 2.3 | |
| xG against | 0.78 | 1.3 | |
| Shots | 17 | 16.3 | |
| On target | 7 | 6.2 | |
| Shots faced | 11 | 10.4 | |
| xG per shot | 0.17 | 0.14 | |
| Possession | 64% | 63.2% | |
| Passes | 680 | 633.1 | |
| Corners | 8 | 5.7 | |
| Fouls | 6 | 11 | low |
Timeline
- 12'
Goal
Elliot Anderson competition goal #1
- 34'
Goal
Phil Foden competition goal #1 assist Rico Lewis
- 45'
Sub
Răzvan Marin → Aboubakary Koita
- 45'
Sub
Barnabás Varga → Zini
- 52'
Goal
Stavros Pilios assist Zini
- 57'
Goal
Rayan Cherki competition goal #1 assist Phil Foden
- 59'
Yellow
Joško Gvardiol
- 62'
Sub
Floyd Samba → Ryan McAidoo
- 63'
Sub
João Mário → Oleksandr Zubkov
- 65'
Goal
Phil Foden competition goal #2 assist Rico Lewis
- 72'
Sub
Joško Gvardiol → Vitor Nunes
- 72'
Sub
Enzo Fernández → Rayan Aït-Nouri
- 76'
Goal
Phil Foden competition goal #3 assist Ryan McAidoo
- 83'
Sub
Rúben Dias → Kaden Braithwaite
- 83'
Sub
Kervin Arriaga → Mijat Gaćinović
- 83'
Sub
Luka Jović → Milán Vitális
Category leaders
- Key passesRico Lewis4
- Duels wonLovro Majer9/14
- DribblesAllan4/5
- Defensive actionsKervin Arriaga7
- ShotsRayan Cherki5 (on target 2)
- Fouls wonRayan Cherki3
#Champions League#Manchester City#AEK Athens#Phil Foden#Rayan Cherki#Elliot Anderson
This review was written by AI from match data (API-Football). FN Score and FN xPts are calculated by Fulltime Note using a published formula.