Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne scores his aspect’s second purpose of the sport, throughout the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Manchester City, at St. James’ Park, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
It took Kevin De Bruyne lower than 5 minutes to show why his return from damage could possibly be so essential for Manchester City in the second half of the Premier League season.
Five months after having surgical procedure on a hamstring damage, De Bruyne got here off the bench to rating the equalizer and arrange an injury-time winner for City in a 3-2 win at Newcastle on Saturday.
De Bruyne had not made a league look because the opening spherical of the season in August, but it surely seemed like he’d by no means been away.
With City trailing 2-1 at St. James’ Park and Pep Guardiola’s crew struggling to discover the little bit of high quality wanted to break down the hosts’ protection, De Bruyne got here on in the 69th minute and turned the sport round with two good touches of his proper foot.
In the 74th, he collected the ball and drove ahead towards the realm earlier than sidefooting a pinpoint end simply contained in the close to publish, out of attain of goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. And in stoppage time, he lifted a superbly weighted ball into the field for substitute Oscar Bobb to rating his first Premier League purpose and full the comeback.
“I missed this,” De Bruyne said. “I think it was more willpower than anything else. It was crazy. I know I’m not able to do that for 90 minutes at the moment. I can put in a shift for 30 minutes at the moment. I feel it in my lungs, especially with the cold.”
Bobb’s purpose handed Newcastle a fourth straight league loss and Eddie Howe’s crew is now behind Chelsea, which climbed into eighth place with a 1-0 win over Fulham. Only two video games had been performed Saturday with half of the Premier League groups having the weekend off for a brief winter break.
For City, it was a sixth straight win in all competitions, however the psychological increase of getting arguably the league’s greatest — and most influential — participant again to full health may show much more vital than the three factors. Especially with striker Erling Haaland showing to be sidelined till the top of the month with a foot damage.
“When Kevin has the ball and we have runners, Kevin is unique in the world,” Guardiola said. “But the finish by Oscar, I am so, so happy for him.”
Guardiola’s crew climbed above Aston Villa into second place however continues to be two factors behind chief Liverpool. However, the defending champions clawed again a much bigger deficit in the second half of the marketing campaign to overtake Arsenal for the title final season.
Newcastle had overwhelmed City at residence in the League Cup in September and seemed headed for an additional victory after a frantic first half that featured three highlight-reel targets in a 12-minute span.
Bernardo Silva put City forward with a artful backheel flick after assembly a cross from Kyle Walker in the twenty sixth minute however Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon put Newcastle forward with related targets inside two minutes of one another.
Isak equalized after working onto an extended ball excessive, reducing inside Walker and beating substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega with a curling strike that crept contained in the far publish.
Gordon then almost replicated that feat minutes in a while one other fast counter, driving in from the left and likewise reducing inside Walker earlier than curling the ball previous Ortega and inside the identical nook.
Ortega had to come on after simply eight minutes after Ederson was injured when colliding with Sean Longstaff as he scored a purpose that was disallowed for offside throughout an eventful begin to the sport.
Chelsea has now gained three league video games in a row for the primary time underneath Mauricio Pochettino, with Cole Palmer once more offering the essential purpose for the Blues in the west London derby towards Fulham.
Palmer slotted in a penalty in first-half stoppage time to give Chelsea a fourth straight league victory at residence, its greatest run at Stamford Bridge in 3 1/2 years.
It was the 21-year-old Palmer’s ninth league purpose of the season and fifth from the penalty spot after becoming a member of from Man City in the offseason.
And it made up for his missed probabilities in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to second-tier Middlesbrough in the primary leg of the League Cup semifinals.
“After the (Middlesbrough) game I was disappointed, like anyone’s going to be, missing that many chances and costing the team the game,” Palmer advised broadcaster TNT. “People know you have those games, so just had to try and put it behind me.”
Fulham supervisor Marco Silva was fuming after the sport, although, arguing that Chelsea defender Malo Gusto ought to have been despatched off in the primary half, when he escaped with only a yellow card for a studs-up problem on Willian.
“It’s a clear mistake from the VAR,” Silva mentioned. “It’s a clear red card.”
Reading’s third-tier match against Port Vale was abandoned just 16 minutes into the first half Saturday after around 1,000 home fans invaded the pitch to protest against the club’s ownership, with many of them refusing to leave.
Reading made several appeals over the stadium loudspeakers and social media for fans to leave the field and allow the League One game to resume, but it was eventually abandoned with the score at 0-0.
Reading fans have long been unhappy with the club’s owner, Chinese businessman Dai Yongge, accusing him of financial mismanagement. Reading has been deducted a total of four points this season for failing to pay players on time.
It was unclear whether the game would be replayed or whether Port Vale would be credited with a win.
The English Football League, which runs the professional divisions below the Premier League, said it “will now discuss the implications of this afternoon’s events with the clubs involved.”
A second League One recreation, between Bolton and Cheltenham, was additionally referred to as off Saturday due to a medical emergency in the gang.
