Phil Foden scored a sensational hat-trick to help Manchester City return to winning ways in the Champions League after they thumped AEK Athens 5-1 at Etihad Stadium.
Enzo Maresca's side produced the perfect response to their 4-2 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain last time out, with Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki also scoring on Tuesday.
The hosts' early dominance was rewarded in the 12th minute when Enzo Fernandez's free-kick beat Alberto Brignoli but cannoned against the crossbar, with Anderson the quickest to react to the loose ball and turn it into the net.
City hit the woodwork again soon after when Allan thundered against the frame of the goal from a tight angle, but the Premier League leaders did double their tally through Foden.
Fernandez spread the play out wide for Foden, who played a neat one-two with Rico Lewis before firing into the roof of Brignoli's net, scoring in successive appearances for the Citizens, having gone 35 outings without a goal beforehand.
Cherki almost rounded off a wonderful team move, but he was met with a strong stop by the AEK goalkeeper at his near post before the break, and the visitors reduced the deficit seven minutes after the restart when Stavros Pilios picked out the bottom-right corner.
But AEK's hopes of a comeback were dashed in the space of seven minutes. First, Cherki collected Foden's pass on the edge of the box, sending Kervin Arriaga onto his backside before curling a left-footed shot beyond the grasp of Brignoli.
Foden then scored his second and City's fourth in the 65th minute when Cherki's searching ball over the top of the AEK defence was brilliantly cushioned by Lewis and into the path of Foden, who arrowed first time into the top-left corner.
And the win was sealed 14 minutes from time as Foden completed his hat-trick. The Englishman was in the right place at the right time to tuck home Ryan McAidoo's cross and seal an emphatic victory.
No Haaland? No problem for City as Foden delivers statement performance
Having made a blistering start to the season for City, Erling Haaland started on the bench amid concerns about an injury sustained in Saturday's 3-2 win over Ipswich Town in the Premier League, but the Norwegian could sit back and relax as Foden took the reins.
Before lining up against AEK, Foden had managed just three goal involvements (one goal, two assists) in seven appearances across all competitions this season, but he bettered that entire tally in just one match here (three goals, one assist).
Foden became the third Englishman to score a hat-trick and assist a goal in a Champions League match, along with Wayne Rooney (September 2004 against Fenerbahce, for Manchester United) and Raheem Sterling (October 2019 against Atalanta, for City).
It was also the first time a City player scored a Champions League hat-trick since March 2023, when Haaland netted five against RB Leipzig, while Foden has now scored 23 times in the competition.
The result also continued Maresca's fine start in charge of the Citizens. He has 10 wins in 12 games as City manager in all competitions (L2), becoming one of six managers in the Premier League era (since 1992-93) with 10 wins in as few as 12 games with a club, along with Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea (12), Pep Guardiola at City (10), Unai Emery at Arsenal (12), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Man Utd (11) and Arne Slot at Liverpool (11).
Despite Pilios becoming the first Albanian player to score in the Champions League since Berat Djimsiti in October 2024 for Atalanta, it was a comfortable outing for City, who finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.84 from their 17 shots to AEK's 0.72 from 11 attempts.