Quick Navigation
Once again, Man City midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne showed his magic when his team needed him the most. The English Premier League has been the toughest league in the world. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City are fighting for the title with a few games left. Manchester City, the defending champions, couldn’t afford to drop a single point at this stage in order to stay in the title race.
But they had a tough challenge today against Crystal Palace. The result could have been different if Kevin De Bruyne hadn’t shown his magic at Selhurst Park. Crystal Palace surprised the Citizens at the very beginning of the match as they took the lead in just three minutes. But De Bruyne stepped forward to rescue the Citizens, scoring two goals and providing an assist. In the end, Man City won the match by a 4-2 margin and secured all three points against Crystal Palace.
As It Happened
Since Manchester City are having a tight fixture, Pep Guardiola had to rotate his squad as much as he could. He benched Phil Foden, who scored a hattrick against Aston Villa on Thursday. Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne started tonight after missing the Villa match.
However, Crystal Palace gave Man City a massive shock at the very beginning when Philippe Mateta took away the ball from John Stones and scored a brilliant goal in the 3rd minute.
Man City, after conceding an early goal, had gone wild and created tons of chances to find the equalizer. It was Kevin De Bruyne, who broke the deadlock for the Citizens with a powerful strike in the 13th minute. But the visitors couldn’t score more in the remaining minutes of the first half despite their best effort.
Coming back from the break, Manchester City didn’t waste time to take the lead. Rico Lewis put the Citizens ahead of the match with a brilliant goal in the 47th minute.
However, the home team also tried their best to equalize the scoreline but failed. Moreover, De Bruyne set up a beautiful goal for Erling Haaland in the 66th minute to make the scoreline 3-1. De Bruyne was so clinical today and completed his brace within five minutes of the third goal. This time, the midfield maestro scored with the help of Rodri.
The game was under Man City’s full control after De Bruyne’s brace, but the home team got their second goal at the last moment when Odsonne Edoard found the back of the net in the 88th minute. Man City, however, won the match in the end and got all three points at Selhurst Park.
Appreciation From Pep
City boss Pep Guardiola highly appreciated Kevin De Bruyne after the match. Pep didn’t hesitate to consider KDB as City’s one of the best players in history. Guardiola said, “Without him, we would not be able to win this. You talk about managers, but players like Kevin make this game easy.”
“He has been one of the best players in the history of City. To sustain this for nine years at City, and have that consistency is amazing. The first goal is unbelievable. The assist is unbelievable. Really good,” Guardiola added.
