back in business, Kevin De Bruyne guides Manchester City to victory at Newcastle

Coming into play twenty minutes from time, the Belgian allowed his team to overthrow the Magpies on Saturday in his first championship match in five months.

France Télévisions – Sports Editorial

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Belgian Kevin De Bruyne in the colors of Manchester City against Newcastle in the Premier League, January 13, 2024. (OLI SCARFF / AFP)

The providential man. Trailing, Manchester City managed to overthrow Newcastle in the final minutes (3-2), Saturday January 13, thanks to its captain Kevin De Bruyne, scorer then decisive passer in added time, five months after his last appearance in the Premier League. A success which allows Pep Guardiola’s team to move up to second place in the championship, before Aston Villa travels to Everton on Sunday.

In the absence of Erling Haaland, who has not yet recovered, the three-time reigning champion felt the breath of defeat on his back but “KDB” pulled him out of the rut. The Belgian creator equalized five minutes after coming into play (74th, 2-2) then sent the young Oscar Bobb to score the winning goal by erasing the opposing goalkeeper with a dribble (90th+1, 3-2) in a white-hot St James’ Park.

“He’s the only one in the world who can do that! Playing with him is great. He’s not only one of the greatest players in the Premier League, but also a very nice guy. He helps the young guys a lot and the fact that he’s back really strengthens us.”reacted the 20-year-old Norwegian on English television, specifying that he had obviously thanked his teammate for the offering.

“Glad to be back”

“It’s crazy, I missed that feeling! I’m not able to do that for 90 minutes at the moment… I can do a 20-25 minute match at full capacity but I’m happy to be back”, said Kevin De Bruyne at the microphone of TNT Sports. With his performance this evening, the attacking midfielder became the first Cityzen to score and assist in a Premier League match coming off the bench since Sergio Agüero nine years ago.

The only black point for the Mancuniens comes from the injury at the very start of the match of goalkeeper Ederson, hit while leaving at the feet of Sean Longstaff – on a Newcastle goal finally refused for offside (2nd) – and went out limping six minutes later, unable to continue the game.

Newcastle, for their part, have a fourth defeat in the league and are in tenth place, two points behind a trio made up of Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton. The locals had, however, managed to recover after the opening score of Bernardo Silva (26th, 1-0), author of a magnificent “madjer”, thanks to curling strikes from Alexander Isak (35th, 1-1) , unstoppable at the start of the year, and Anthony Gordon (37th, 2-1).


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