3:2! Gua Shuai has no explanation for the adjustment of De Bruyne to reverse the situation of the 20-year-old soldier 91 minutes of stunning
Since losing to Villa in early December, City have gone from strength to strength in all competitions, returning to the top three in the league, winning the Club World Cup, reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup, and welcoming Kevin De Bruyne back. In the 21st round of the Premier League, Manchester City came to St James' Park to face Newcastle, and the two sides staged a goal battle, De Bruyne came off the bench to complete the pass, and Bob staged a stunner, Manchester City retreated 3:2 away.
Newcastle are plagued by injuries, the Magpies have lost three league games in a row, and midfielder Joelinton has been out for at least six weeks with a quadriceps tendon problem. There have also been recent rumours that Newcastle need to sell players to ensure financial fairness, which can be said to be even worse. Newcastle are currently 11 points clear of the fourth-placed Gunners this season, and if they don't adjust, it will be very difficult to even enter the Europa League. This is the third meeting between the two teams this season, with Manchester City winning the first leg at home and being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle.
In this game, Pep Guardiola was still cautious, putting De Bruyne on the bench, Haaland continued to be absent, Alvarez as a single arrow, Foden, Doku, and B formed the second offensive line, Rodri and Kovacic were two midfielders, Gvardiol, Ake, Dias, and Walker combined the backline, and Ederson guarded the goal. On Newcastle's side, the remaining key players such as Almiron, Isak, Guimaraes, Gordon and Botman, who have not been affected by injuries, are all in the starting lineup.
Only 1 minute and 30 seconds into the opening game, Trippier made a long pass in the backfield, Isak stepped forward to form a single selfless cross, Longstaff pushed the goal, but Isak was offside when he received the ball, Newcastle was blown off the ball, but Ederson was also injured because of a collision with Longstaff, unable to continue to insist, Guardiola was forced to make an early substitution, substitute goalkeeper Ortega came on as a substitute.
Then the two teams directly launched a big battle of attack, in the 16th minute, Rodri counterattacked diagonally, Doku cut a knock, Kovacic's shot was blocked, and the volley of seat B at two points was high; in the 26th minute, there was a vacuum in Newcastle's left defense, Doku saw the opportunity to transfer, Walker received a cross, and a wonderful "dragon swing tail" heel shot in front of the B seat broke the deadlock, 1:0! Last season at St. James' Park, seat B used a pass to help Manchester City equalize, this time it was he who took the lead for the blue moon.
In the 28th minute, Manchester City's attack struck again, Doku successfully pressed in front, Alvarez knocked horizontally, and the ball was volleyed directly in front of the B seat without stopping, Dubravka made a brilliant save, and the ball also hit the goal frame; In the 31st minute, Ortega's ball was broken, but fortunately, Dias found it in time to complete the clearance. In the 33rd minute, Dan Byrne slipped unexpectedly in the center circle, Foden advanced a diagonal pass, and Alvarez's powerful shot from a tight angle was blocked by Dubravka.
In the 35th minute, Newcastle also completed the counterattack, Guimaraes sent a long pass to assist, Isak quickly started to receive the ball, and in the face of the Walker defense in 1V1, he cut directly into the far corner and scored the goal, Ortega had no choice, 1:1! Isak scored in 4 consecutive games, and has scored 14 goals in 23 appearances this season.
In the 37th minute, Gordon advanced with the ball on the left side, Walker was too big to let Gordon break through, Newcastle No. 10 decisively cut inside and shot into the far corner and then went to the next city, 2:1! The right side of the Manchester City captain was continuously blown up in just 2 minutes, and Newcastle easily completed the overtake; Gordon has also scored 7 goals and 5 assists this season, and in the case of Rashford's sluggish state, Southgate may consider letting Gordon enter the national team. In the 39th minute, Isak interspersed a run to break away from the Dias defense and break into the box to push the shot, this time Ortega blocked the ball.
In the second half, Newcastle took the initiative to shrink the defense, and Manchester City began to gradually dominate; in the 52nd minute, Alvarez took a free kick around the wall and went straight to the goal, Dubravka made a wonderful save with a sideways pounce; in the 68th minute, Guardiola waved the flag to replace De Bruyne, and one minute later, Doku crossed from the left rib, Gvardiol nodded the ball to the ferry, Newcastle cleared the ball and did not kick far, Alvaro volleyed too much from the penalty spot and went over the crossbar. In the 71st minute, De Bruyne broke through on the right, Alvarez's push was blocked, and Foden's follow-up push from a tight angle went straight to the goal.
Since his teammates can't score, De Bruyne simply came by himself, in the 74th minute, Rodri just passed through the center circle, De Bruyne advanced to the top of the arc with a tricky low flat shot directly through the crotch, Dubravka reacted half a beat and could only watch the ball into the net, 2:2! Manchester City successfully equalized, De Bruyne returned to score 1 goal and 1 assist in 2 games, and Guardiola was also excited to celebrate with his fists off the field.
In the 83rd minute, Rodri pushed forward to step on a bicycle to get rid of the defense and shoot into the far corner, Dubravka did not dare to slack off and fly to block the ball, and Guardiola naturally did not want to see only 1 point, Manchester City launched a fierce attack at the last moment, in the 91st minute, De Bruyne sent an unsolved long pass, and Bob, who also came on as a substitute, inserted on the left side to get rid of Trippier's defense, and pushed in front of the goal to stage a stunner, 3:2!
The 20-year-old Bob scored his first Premier League debut goal to help Manchester City win in the final moments, and after taking three points, Manchester City overtook Villa to move to second place in the table, just two points away from Liverpool, and at the same time, the Blue Moon not only avenged the elimination of the League Cup, but also gave Newcastle a wave of four consecutive defeats.