Mercurial midfielder De Bruyne marks return to starting XI with assist and a goal as Man City end seven-match winless streak with 3-0 rout of Nottingham
De Bruyne celebrates his goal. Pics/AFP, Getty Images
Kevin De Bruyne’s return to the starting line-up for the first time in nearly three months showed what Man City were missing as he helped Pep Guardiola’s men snap a seven-game winless streak, beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Wednesday.
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The English champions’ barren run included six defeats, the worst run of Guardiola’s managerial career. “We needed it. The club, the players needed to win, but it’s just one game. The most important thing was to break this routine of not winning and finally we won, but we have to continue,” said Guardiola.
Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne (centre) shoots to score against Nottingham Forest during their English Premier League match at Manchester on Wednesday
De Bruyne teed up Bernardo Silva for the opener and then fired home himself to double City’s lead. Jeremy Doku rounded off the tally as the home side did not suffer a repeat of last week’s collapse from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League.
Guardiola dismissed suggestions that there was a rift with De Bruyne through his injury problems.
“Last season, [he] was many months [out injured] and this season as well. I’m so happy he’s back. He fought a lot. In respect to his physicality and minutes against Feyenoord was not good, but the minutes he played at Anfield [v Liverpool] were really good and today he played 75 fantastic minutes,” said Guardiola.
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