KEVIN DE BRUYNE. Of course it was.
It was simply inevitable – absolutely nailed on – exactly what would happen once Pep Guardiola told his number 17 to get changed.
Only just back from a five-month injury, at least the Belgian could have at least taken a few weeks to get back to his very best and give everyone some hope of a dramatic title race lasting until the end of the season.
Instead, De Bruyne took a matter of minutes and all of a sudden, the prospect of a fourth successive City title being secured by mid-April looks a depressing possibility.
The only surprise was that De Bruyne, a 69th minute substitute for Bernardo Silva, failed to stick a free-kick into the top corner with his first touch within seconds of arrival.
The next time De Bruyne had control of the ball, Newcastle’s midfield thought it would be a good idea to give him a free run on goal and he literally passed the ball into the bottom left corner to level.
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And then, unbelievably, just a few seconds into stoppage time, De Bruyne casually delivered an extraordinary right-footed ball over the top of the home defence for fellow sub Oscar Bobb to show great composure to grab the winner.
Pep Guardiola and his staff on the bench celebrated widely. Newcastle’s players stared down at the pitch looking shell shocked and absolutely cursing that de Bruyne had not spent a couple of weeks longer on the sidelines.
In a terrific, breathless game last night, Newcastle led with goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon after Bernardo Silva gave City the lead.
As for Newcastle, now with four successive Premier League defeats, this season is not getting any easier.
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At one point, though, they looked to be sending sloppy City to a fourth defeat of the season although De Bruyne had other ideas.
Guardiola and City still have work to do and some of their team are nowhere near their best.
But they will head to Abu Dhabi for a winter break knowing that despite not being at their best in the first half of the season, they are in a reasonable position to now launch an attack on leaders Liverpool.
During the first half, City’s fans continually sang the name of Sven Goran Eriksson, their former manager.
But in the end, of course, those supporters were chanting the name of De Bruyne who, unsurprisingly, left the pitch with a smile.
City did not exactly have it easy as they lost keeper Ederson three minutes into the game after a collision with Sean Longstaff. The home midfielder thought he had swept his team into the lead following a cross from Isak.
Although Isak was offside, due to the protocols, the linesman did not flag for offside until the ball had ended up in the net.
City lost John Stones in similar circumstances before Christmas when he suffered an injury against Everton who went on an attack despite there being an offside.
Unwisely, Ederson tried to continue and he hit a terrible pass at Miguel Almiron yet Gordon was unable to make the most of the complete mayhem at the back.
After their ropey start, City sorted themselves out, Phil Foden started to control proceedings and their goal had been coming.
Newcastle reckon they should have got a foul for Ruben Dias’ challenge on Gordon but eventually, and Silva brilliantly flicked Kyle Walker’s cross with the back of his foot.
Eddie Howe’s players vented their frustration with ref Chris Kavanagh and Dan Burn, bizarrely, walked into City’s celebration huddle to remonstrate with Dias.
Yet City started to get a bit sloppy. They attacked recklessly without remaining secure at the back and for the equaliser, Isak was picked out by an utterly brilliant first-time from Bruno Guimaraes and the striker turned Kyle Walker before curling a stunning shot in the far corner
Like the opener, Gordon’s goal was directly in the eyeline of Guiardiola who had a perfect view of the England under-21 international collecting Dan Burns pass on the halfway line and then being free to cut inside into the area before sticking a shot past Stefan Ortega.
Dubravka came to the rescue for Newcastle again, making a couple of key saves to deny Alvarez with one, from a free-kick, particularly impressive.
Alvarez missed an easy chance and until De Bruyne’s arrival, you could not see City scoring.
De Bruyne, who hadnot scored in the Premier League since his double against Arsenal in a 4-1 win in April, made his strike from about 20 yards look easy.
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But in many respects, his pass for the winner was even better. Only a small number of players in the world can deliver an assist like he did for Bobb.
And the problem for the rest of the Premier League is that De Bruyne is only just getting started.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
