Manchester City returned to winning ways in the Champions League with a convincing 5-1 victory over AEK Athens at the Etihad Stadium on a night when Phil Foden announced his return to form with a three-goal haul. The scoreline was completed by strikes from Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki, while Stavros Pilios scored a late consolation for the visitors.
Despite the emphatic result, the atmosphere felt subdued compared with recent domestic fixtures; the attendance was officially 40,042, about 20,000 fewer than watched City’s weekend win over Ipswich. Observers and the club’s coaching staff had emphasised the need for a composed, businesslike performance to steady their Champions League campaign after the defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
Foden was the standout, switching between the right flank and a central striker role and finishing instinctively to complete his hat-trick. Erling Haaland remained on the bench for City, underlining the team’s ability to create and convert chances without their regular target man on the pitch.
AEK’s travelling supporters, clad in yellow and black, provided the livelier noise on an otherwise quiet night, and Pilios’s goal served more as a reward to those fans than a reflection of a competitive shift in the match. Overall, Manchester City delivered a controlled performance, getting the result they needed to get their Champions League campaign back on track amid off-field distractions.
Manager Enzo Maresca had urged his players to "make their own noise" amid the wider cacophony surrounding the club, and City’s efficient display offered a clear response: a dominant home win that reasserted their credentials in Europe while allowing several squad members to make an impact.