EPL hits and misses: Kevin De Bruyne shows Man City what they've been missing
It didn't take long, did it?
Any team would miss Kevin De Bruyne. Even a team of the quality of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. He's just that good and he showed his full repertoire in 25 minutes on the pitch at St James' Park.
With City trailing 2-1, Guardiola called upon the Belgium international in the 69th minute. He was straight into the action. Precisely four minutes and 34 seconds after his introduction, he found space in between the lines before driving at the heart of the Newcastle defence. You knew what was coming next as the ball flashed between Fabian Schar's legs and beyond the dive of Martin Dubravka to nestle in the bottom corner.
Despite Newcastle's grit and determination in defence, a City winner felt inevitable. De Bruyne's contribution felt inevitable and this time it was an inch-perfect angled pass for Oscar Bobb to convert for the winner.
It was like De Bruyne had never been away.
City's celebrations after the dramatic win centred around the 32-year-old. His team-mates know his importance. Guardiola knows his importance and his return makes the Premier League title favourites even stronger.
"He's a special player, a legend," Guardiola said. "He's stretching his mind, five months is a long time and hopefully he can help us be there until the end in the second half of the season."
Despite some uncharacteristic results this campaign, many have found it difficult to turn their back on City when predicting the winner of the race for the title. A few bravely did, but after seeing De Bruyne's impact, it will be difficult to find anyone backing against City now.
Oliver Yew
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