Dream goals and concern for Ederson
De Bruyne leads Man City to a furious comeback victory
January 13, 2024, 8:53 p.m
Almost five months after his last league game, playmaker Kevin De Bruyne only needed 20 minutes to score and scored the late winning goal for Manchester City. The Champions League winner is currently threatened with a bitter failure in goal.
Kevin De Bruyne led Manchester City to victory in the Premier League after his injury layoff. The Belgian national soccer player scored in the spectacular 3-2 (1-2) win at Newcastle United shortly after coming on as a substitute to make it 2-2 and set up Oscar Bobb’s winning goal in stoppage time. With 43 points, Pep Guardiola’s team is second in the table, two points behind Liverpool FC. De Bruyne last played in the Premier League on August 11th and then had to sit out for a long time due to a thigh injury.
Without superstar Erling Haaland, who was still ailing, Manchester City suffered another loss early on. Goalkeeper Ederson was injured right at the start during a rescue attempt. Former Bielefeld Stefan Ortega made his second appearance of the season in the Premiere League. City were not shocked by the injury – on the contrary. After a pass from Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva scored with a heel to give the visitors the lead (26th minute). Just three minutes later, the Portuguese goalscorer hit the crossbar.
Dream goal follows dream goal
Newcastle United, who had lost twice to Borussia Dortmund in the group stage of the Champions League, also responded with a dream goal: Ex-Dortmunder Alexander Isak completed a perfect counterattack with a shot into the far corner to make it 1-1 (35th). Just two minutes later, Anthony Gordon also had the same idea: with a remarkable shot into the far corner, he gave Ortega no chance and also mercilessly exploited the weaknesses of the City defense.
City pressed after the break, but it was the return of De Bruyne who made the difference. The Belgian scored just four and a half minutes after coming on as a substitute with a well-placed low shot to make it 2-2 (74′). The former Bundesliga professional from Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg was also involved in the winning goal. The 20-year-old Norwegian Bobb brilliantly converted a long ball from the midfielder and made it 3-2 (90th + 1).
Palmer leads Chelsea up
Meanwhile, Chelsea FC is slowly getting closer to the international places. The Blues defeated FC Fulham for German national goalkeeper Bernd Leno 1-0 (1-0) in the West London derby. With their third league win in a row and 31 points, the six-time champions temporarily moved up to eighth place.
Cole Palmer, who has been playing well for weeks, scored the winning goal with a penalty kick immediately before the break (45th + 4th). After the break, Chelsea, who had suffered a disgraceful 1-0 defeat in the League Cup semi-final first leg at second division FC Middlesbrough during the week, missed several chances to make the decision. Fulham increased the pressure in the final phase, but the guests only became really dangerous from set pieces. With 24 points, Leno and Co. are in 13th place.