Not even five minutes were all it took for Kevin De Bruyne to show why his return from injury was of the utmost significance for Manchester City in the second half of their their coming to grips with a Geordies side going all out to snatch a historic win against Pep Guardiola\u2019s finest.<\/p>\n
Five months fresh from surgery on his hamstring injury \u2013 and not having made a league appearance since the opening round of the season in August \u2013 De Bruyne evacuated the bench to score the enchanting equalizer, besides subsequently setting up an injury-time winner for City in their 3-2 win at St. James\u2019 Park. Comfortingly for the spirit, it looked and felt as if he\u2019d never been away.<\/p>\n
City had been trailing 2-1 at St. James\u2019 Park with Guardiola\u2019s men finding it a bit of a struggle to find the extra bit of quality needed to break down the hosts\u2019 robust defense until the talismanic De Bruyne made his presence in the 69th minute and magically turned the game around with two perfect touches of his right foot.<\/p>\n
The 74th<\/sup> minute saw a light-footed De Bruyne swoop onto the ball and drive forward before side-footing a pinpoint finish just inside the near post, out of reach of goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. Then, in stoppage time, he completed his comeback magic act as he sent the ball into the box for substitute Oscar Bobb to score his first Premier League goal.<\/p>\n \u201cI missed this,\u201d De Bruyne said. \u201cI think it was more willpower than anything else. It was crazy. I know I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Bobb\u2019s goal doomed Newcastle to a fourth straight league loss and Eddie Howe\u2019s team is now behind Chelsea, which climbed into eighth place with a 1-0 win over Fulham. Only two games were played Saturday with half of the Premier League teams having the weekend off for a short winter break.<\/p>\n City\u2019s win meant it was a sixth straight win in all competitions, but the psychological boost of having a still recovering De Bruyne back to full fitness could prove even more important than the three points they managed to salvage. This is especially with Norwegian striker Erling Haaland still hovering on the sideline until the end of the month with a foot injury.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Kevin has the ball and we have runners, Kevin is unique in the world,\u201d Guardiola said. \u201cBut the finish by Oscar, I am so, so happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Guardiola\u2019s team are now in second place, above Aston Villa but still two points behind leader Liverpool.<\/p>\n It would be pertinent for all observers to remember that the defending champions had also managed to resurgently fight their way back from a bigger deficit in the second half of the campaign to overtake Arsenal for the title last season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"