Manchester City maintained the pressure on their Premier League title rivals with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Aston Villa at home on Wednesday. Phil Foden’s magnificent hat-trick was the cherry on top after Rodri began the scoring, with Jhon Duran on target for the visitors.

Guardiola made four changes to the team that drew 0-0 at home against Arsenal on Sunday, one of which was forced, with Rico Lewis replacing the injured Nathan Ake. Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and Mateo Kovacic were rested, with Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, and Julian Alvarez taking their place.

Villa were already missing top scorer Ollie Watkins due to a hamstring injury, and goalkeeper Emi Martinez fell unwell during the warm-up, leaving Robin Olsen to fill in. The away team was also missing Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, and John McGinn.

City had the stronger start of the two teams and were rewarded for their early pressure, with Rodri expertly timing his move to get on the end of Doku’s cross before blasting into the roof of the net. However, the Blues were caught off guard shortly after, with Duran combining brilliantly with Morgan Rogers and finishing well past Stefan Ortega.

City were frustrated for much of the first half, but went into halftime 2-1 up thanks to Foden’s free kick, which miraculously squeezed through a space in the Villa wall and into Olsen’s bottom corner. And it was Foden who made it three on the hour mark, sweeping an incisive finish into the bottom corner following some excellent work from Rodri.

Foden completed his hat-trick with 20 minutes remaining, rising above a difficult challenge to blast an effort into Olsen’s top corner. Despite the win, City remains third, with Arsenal earning three points from Luton Town, but the margin to Liverpool, who face Sheffield United on Thursday, has narrowed. These are your player ratings.

1. Stefan Ortega: 6

2. Rico Lewis: 7

3. Manuel Akanji: 6

4. Ruben Dias: 5

5. Josko Gvardiol: 6

6. Rodri (off ’75): 8

7. Bernardo Silva (off ’75): 6

8. Jeremy Doku (off ’80): 7

9. Phil Foden (off ’80): 9

10. Jack Grealish: 6

11. Julian Alvarez: 5

12. Matheus Nunes (on ’75): 5

13. Mateo Kovacic (on ’75): 5

14. Oscar Bobb (on ’80): 5

15. Sergio Gomez (on ’80): 5