Newcastle: The introduction of Kevin De Bruyne as substitute later in the second half of this enthralling game made the difference between the two sides as Manchester City emerged winners at 3-2 against Newcastle, to go just two points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
De Bruyne, out of action for five months after hamstring surgery, scored within 5 minutes of arrival on the pitch and then provided a vital assist for the added-time winning goal. City manager, Pep Guardiola, jokingly said: “I am so disappointed in him and upset because he didn’t score with the free-kick.”
He then said: “The way we play is quite similar without him but to win games we need players like Kevin or Erling (Haaland). We know exactly what we have to do, but he sees something special in the final third. That is not tactical, (it’s) talent. We have to take care of him, he is not 22 anymore.” De Bruyne’s recovery took longer than expected.
City took the lead just over half-way through the first half with Kyle Walker racing down on the right and his cross was met with a superb back-heel flick from Bernardo Silva. But within 10 minutes Newcastle equalised.
Alexander Isak picked up the pass from Bruno Guimaraes and he easily beat Walker before driving his shot from 18 yards into the far corner past Stefan Ortego who, in the eighth minute had replaced the injured goalkeeper Ederson after a collision with Sean Longstaff.
Two minutes later the home side had taken the lead. Anthony Gordon collected a pass from Dan Burn on the touchline halfway up the pitch before moving into the area, with Walker beaten again and then shooting inside the far post to see Newcastle 2-1 up at halftime.
While Newcastle had the better of the first half, their opponents were certainly sharper after the break. But the equaliser didn’t come until the 74th minute with De Bruyne coming on in the 69th minute. His strike from 20 yards found the net, through the legs of defender Fabian Schar and passing just inside the left post into the bottom corner. His previous shot from a freekick near the 18-yard line had crashed into the Newcastle wall.
Just as it seemed honours will be shared in this tie the winning goal was scored in the third minute of added time. De Bruyne showed his class yet again, delivering a long inch-perfect pass to substitute Oscar Bobb who showed fine footwork in beating keeper Martin Dubravka before scoring his first Premier League goal.
Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe spoke about De Bruyne: “You just hope he is rusty and not up to full speed and then he delivers that and you think, ‘No, he isn’t rusty’. You hope you can minimise the space and stop his range but for his goal, we did not defend well enough and then for the assist, it was frustrating as we were almost there.”
He added: “We had so much promise and I am sat here with nothing and that is very painful for the players who gave everything.”
Word count: only the text, 519 words.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
