Kevin De Bruyne returned to inspire Man City in a successful comeback to defeat host Newcastle 3-2 in round 21 of the Premier League this morning (January 14).
Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne came off the bench to score and assist Oscar Bobb’s stoppage-time winner, completing the comeback. The victory brought Man City to 2nd place on the rankings, 2 points behind Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Newcastle continued to decline and coach Eddie Howe’s team suffered their 6th defeat in the last 7 matches in the Premier League.
Guardiola’s side Guardiola dominated the opening half-hour but lacked De Bruyne’s composure or Haaland’s presence on the upline. It was only thanks to the brilliance of Bernardo Silva that Man City broke the deadlock. The Spanish player scored a low cross from Kyle Walker into the far corner in the 26th minute.
The 32-year-old Kevin De Bruyne, returning from injury in last weekend’s 5-0 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup, quickly showed what the European champions were missing. De Bruyne caught Rodri’s pass in the 74th minute and rushed forward to make an accurate low shot to level the score at 2-2 for the defending English champions. Before Bruyne scored, 2 goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon helped the team get the nickname “Screenshots” leading 2-1.
Despite not playing much this season, De Bruyne still creates more assists than any other player in Europe’s top 5 leagues since the start of last season. And he continued to show off his skills with another great pass that helped Bobb score the winning goal in a 3-2 win.
In contrast to Man City’s jubilation, the latest defeat for Newcastle could end their hopes of reaching the top 4. They dropped to 10th place, 11 points behind next season’s Champions League spot.
In other matches, Chelsea temporarily dispelled the crisis with a close 1-0 victory over Fulham to rise to 8th place, below the Champions League group.
