Kevin De Bruyne marked his return to Premier League action with a goal and an assist as Manchester City came from behind to secure a 3-2 win over Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday.
De Bruyne, who played for the first time in the league since injuring his hamstring on the opening day of the season, took just four minutes and 74 seconds to make an impact after coming on in the 69th minute, grabbing City’s equaliser with a fine finish past Martin Dubravka.
He wasn’t done there as the Belgium international’s magical pass set up Oscar Bobb’s injury-time winner as City grabbed the three points at St James’ Park.
A frantic encounter got off to a disrupted start as City goalkeeper, Ederson, was injured in his attempt to stop Sean Longstaff putting the ball into the net.
The goal was ruled out as Alexander Isak was clearly offside in the build-up and City were furious the flag was not raised earlier to prevent any damage being done to the Brazilian.
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Pep Guardiola’s side, however, put a difficult start to the game behind them as Bernardo Silva’s sublime backheel finish gave them a 26th-minute lead.
Newcastle, who have now suffered four straight league defeats, turned the game on its head with two goals from Alexander Isak in the 35th minute and Anthony Gordon in the 37th minute in the space of two minutes and 19 seconds.
It set the stage for De Bruyne’s masterful 25-minute cameo in the second half as City secured a thrilling win which sees them move up to second in the table and pile the pressure on their title rivals as they look to secure a fourth straight Premier League crown.
City are poised to strike when they return from a two-week winter break, by which point Erling Haaland may be fit to join De Bruyne in terrorising opposition defences.
Newcastle will face Fulham at Craven Cottage in the fourth round of the FA Cup on January 27.
They return to Premier League duty on January 30 when travelling to Aston Villa.
Manchester City also have FA Cup commitments on January 26, facing Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, before a return to Premier League action sees Vincent Kompany’s Burnley travel to the Etihad on January 31.
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