Pep Guardiola "delighted" to have "special" Kevin De Bruyne back in Manchester City fold
After five months on the sidelines recovering from a torn hamstring, De Bruyne made his long-awaited return for the Citizens when he came on as a second-half substitute in Sunday's 5-0 hammering of Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup third round at the Etihad Stadium.
The Belgian was brought on in the 57th minute and Man City scored their third goal of the afternoon just a minute later when Huddersfield's Ben Jackson deflected Oscar Bobb's cross into his own net, after Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez has previously made the net ripple in the first half.
Man-of-the-Match Foden then smashed in his second and City's fourth before De Bruyne marked his return with a superb assist in the 76th minute, racing down the right channel on the overlap and dinking the ball towards the back post for fellow substitute Jeremy Doku – who also returned after over month out though injury – to slot home a first-time finish.
Man City's five-star showing has helped the FA Cup holders secure a safe passage through to the fourth round, but the highlight of the afternoon for the Etihad faithful was the return of De Bruyne, who received a warm welcome for his first outing since August 11.
Guardiola is «incredibly happy» to have De Bruyne available for selection, but the City boss «doesn't want to put pressure on Kevin's shoulders» as he continues to build up his match fitness.
«He played really good minutes, and we thought it was better in the second-half when there was more space because they defended really, really deep and the spaces were so hard to find,» Guardiola said via manc
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