Kevin De Bruyne produced a match-winning performance in his first Premier League appearance since August with a goal and an assist from the bench as Manchester City came from behind to beat Newcastle United 3-2 in an absorbing contest.
City were behind at the break after quickfire goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon following Bernardo Silva’s sublime opener, but De Bruyne equalised before setting up Oscar Bobb to steal all three points in stoppage time with his first Premier League goal.
A third consecutive win moves the champions two points behind leaders Liverpool, having played the same number of matches.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
How the match unfolded
The match started in dramatic fashion, with Sean Longstaff tapping in Isak’s cross in the second minute, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside in the build-up.
But in the incident, City goalkeeper Ederson picked up an injury following a collision with team-mate Kyle Walker, and after initially playing on and presenting a great chance to Gordon, who failed to capitalise, the Brazilian was replaced by Stefan Ortega.
Chances came at both ends, with Miguel Almiron’s cutback poked wide by Isak while Silva flashed an effort over the crossbar for City.
Pep Guardiola’s side were starting to purr, and took a deserved lead on 26 minutes when Walker’s low cross was superbly flicked in by Silva.
But Newcastle were posing a threat on the counter-attack, and the home side levelled eight minutes later through Isak, who latched on to a wonderful Bruno Guimaraes pass before curling a fine strike beyond Ortega into the top right-hand corner.
St James’ Park was rocking, and two minutes later Gordon fired Newcastle into the lead. The winger curled a powerful effort in the bottom right-hand corner with a finish similar to that of Isak.
The chances continued to flow as Isak forced a save from Ortega while Julian Alvarez was twice denied by Martin Dubravka.
De Bruyne’s introduction on 69 minutes was the turning point.
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The Belgian, making his first Premier League appearance since the opening weekend, picked up the ball in space and drove forward before side-footing beyond Dubravka from just outside the penalty area to equalise in the 74th minute.
De Bruyne, making his first Premier League appearance in 155 days, then produced the match’s decisive moment in the first minute of stoppage time.
He picked out fellow substitute Bobb with a sensational pass in behind the Newcastle defence, with the Norwegian then controlling the ball and skilfully moving around Dubravka before tapping into the net.
A first Premier League goal for the 20-year-old , who joined City from Valerenga in 2019, earned City a crucial three points in their quest to earn a historic fourth consecutive top-flight title.
Meanwhile, a fourth straight defeat drops Newcastle down to 10th on 29 points.
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Key facts
Oscar Bobb’s winner was his first ever Premier League goal for Man City. He’s the youngest player (20y 185d) to score a 90th minute winner for the club since Gabriel Jesus against Swansea in February 2017 (19y 308d).
Kevin De Bruyne has scored (1) or assisted (3) a goal in all three of his substitute appearances in all competitions this season. His goal was Manchester City’s 100th in the Premier League against Newcastle, the first side they’ve netted a century against in the competition.
Newcastle have lost consecutive Premier League home games for the first time since October 2021, also conceding three goals in both defeats back then.
Manchester City are just the fourth side in Premier League history to have won at least three successive away games despite trailing in each one after Leeds in October 1999, Spurs in December 2013 and Manchester United in December 2020 (a run of six).