De Bruyne is back after 149 days, and the master assists two goals in nine minutes, and 55,000 people are reveling
With goals from Phil Foden, Alvarez and Oscar Bob, Manchester City began their FA Cup defence with a win over Huddersfield. For Pep Guardiola, perhaps the biggest takeaway from the campaign is De Bruyne's comeback.
In the Premier League opener against Burnley on 11 August, Kevin De Bruyne, who started the game, suffered a hamstring injury and was substituted after just 23 minutes. Subsequently, De Bruyne underwent surgery and also missed the rest of the 2023 competition.
De Bruyne once said: "I've played more than 700 games and it's like a car that has to be overhauled. 'De Bruyne was finally in the squad for the match against Sheffield United on 30 December, and when he got up to warm up, the City crowd erupted in huge cheers, which was enough to show how important he is.
'He's been out for a long time, so we have to be patient. He suffered a serious injury and my main concern was to try to avoid repeating it. ”
At the start of the second half, Kevin De Bruyne warmed up and the City fans once again burst into loud cheers. In the 56th minute, Kevin De Bruyne was ready to come on, and the Manchester City fans collectively stood up and sang.
After coming on for Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne took over the captain's armband from Dias. One minute after coming on, Bob tried to provide an assist for De Bruyne, but his cross flew straight into the net and De Bruyne missed the first goal of the season.
After instigating Foden's goal, De Bruyne fired a long-range shot wide in the 68th minute. In the 74th minute, De Bruyne returned the bottom line, Doku scored with a strong shot, and the two returning players combined to score, and De Bruyne provided his first assist of the season.
De Bruyne's movement was quite impressive, and after distributing the ball to Bob, De Bruyne burst into the box from the outside to break the opponent's offside trap, and then his precise pass was his Xi habitual action.
Renowned journalist Danny Cowley commented, "It looks like De Bruyne is like his old self, he played a good game!"
In the 2023 summer window, Gundogan and Mahrez left the team one after another, plus De Bruyne, Haaland, and Doku were absent due to injury, and Manchester City's attack was affected. With the return of Doku and Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City will be in for a real challenge to defend the treble.