Plus: Sky Sports’ Paul Merson says he struggles to see how things improve for Manchester United under boss Erik ten Hag and suggests something has to change at Old Trafford….
By Paul Merson, Football Expert & Columnist @PaulMerse
At the weekend, Kevin De Bruyne showed everyone just what Man City have been missing.
He came on at St James’ Park and looked like a 20-year-old playing in an U12 league. He was head and shoulders above everyone else on the football pitch. Thierry Henry used to do the same at his peak for Arsenal in the Premier League.
Doing what he did after the length of time he was on the sidelines, it was from another planet. He wasn’t playing against a team bottom of League Two in the FA Cup. He was up against international players on a big stage. He stood out like a sore thumb.
Kevin De Bruyne made a dream return from injury, scoring an equaliser and later assisting the winner as Manchester City came from behind to beat Newcastle 3-2 in the Premier League.
There are levels in football. De Bruyne is on the top shelf of players in the Premier League. What he did on Saturday, no-one else can do. It’s just phenomenal.
It was a scary cameo for the rest of the Premier League.
What’s more, City will have Erling Haaland back too in the next few weeks. They have £200m footballers coming back into what is already a star-studded squad.
‘City are relentless’
Man City are now in a brilliant position.
They are two points off top spot and they haven’t really got into gear yet. They’ve been without two of their most influential players for a substantial amount of time and they are still there or thereabouts. It tells you everything you need to know about City and the strength of the club.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised the return of Kevin De Bruyne after his match-winning contribution from the bench against Newcastle.
They still have a chance, of course. But the problem they have now is you can see City going on one of their trademark runs, reeling off 10 wins on the bounce. It’s relentless.
They absolutely destroyed Newcastle. The second half was absolutely relentless and we are talking about them against one of the supposed top teams. Nearly every other team struggles at St James’ Park and if they do manage a positive result there, we are waxing lyrical about them.
City go there and just dominate. It was mind-blowing.
Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie reflects on what Manchester City’s late comeback win against Newcastle could mean as they sit two points behind league leaders Liverpool.
Can anyone stop City?
Pep Guardiola’s side are easily favourites to win a fourth straight league now.
We are at the stage now where there is no room for error for any team trying to wrestle the title from City. Liverpool travel to Arsenal in a couple of weeks and a draw is no good for either side. Usually, you’d say a draw would be a good result for Liverpool at the Emirates, but not now with City in this mood.
Since a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in December, City have won eight of their last nine games in all competitions. It’s felt like they’ve done that without us even knowing.
They’ve won their last three games in the league and now with Burnley, Brentford twice, Everton, Chelsea at home, Bournemouth, Man Utd at home before they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool, I can see them winning all those games and there’s your run of 10 successive victories in the league.
We’ve seen this too many times from City. No-one can string wins together like they do.
I heard a stat on TV the other day about City and I nearly fell of my chair. From the 2017/18 season, in games from January until the end of the season, they average dropping 10 points a season. That’s over a significant chunk of time. It’s incredible.
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