De Bruyne hitting form just in time for Manchester City’s multiple title runs
Kevin De Bruyne has delivered so many outstanding performances for Manchester City that it is pointless trying to rank them, but his display in Saturday’s 2-0 win was certainly an exhibition of his qualities.
Back to full fitness and back in his preferred central-midfield role, the Belgian struck the bar with a thundering free-kick before the break and then set-up City’s opener with his superb defence splitting pass to Gabriel Jesus.
With City still in the running for an unprecedented four trophies and a big Champions
League quarterfinal against Borussia Dortmund coming up on Tuesday, De Bruyne is hitting peak form at just the rate moment.
“Kevin was injured for some part [of the season] and some players struggled after we finished late last season. He has arrived in a good moment,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.
“Kevin is talent. I say to Kevin to score goals. He was unlucky he hit the post - but he has his vision and ideas”.
United grinds out another vital win
Manchester United took a big step towards securing Champions League soccer next season after it came from behind late Sunday night to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 at Old Trafford and stay second.
Despite yet another unimpressive home performance against struggling opposition, United eked out three valuable points as its newly found steel under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made the difference.
With eight games remaining, United is in a commanding position to seal a top-four finish as it heads into the Europa League quarterfinals against Spanish side Granada aiming to win the continent’s second-tier competition.
Newcastle tunes out noise in survival bid
While it seems like Newcastle United fans want Steve Bruce out with the club hovering above the relegation zone, the players seem to fighting for him and it was evident when the Saints snatched a point against Tottenham Hotspur.
“We all believe in the manager,” Joe Willock, who scored an 85th-minute equaliser, said after the game, while Bruce praised the “spirit and togetherness” in the squad after putting up with “so much nonsense” in recent weeks.
Newcastle sits three points above 18th-place Fulham with a game in hand, but Bruce’s side has yet to play Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester
City and Manchester City – with Fulham on the final day potentially becoming a relegation dogfight.
Hope for West Brom and Allardyce? Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel found out the hard way how unforgiving the Premier League can be as he suffered his first defeat, the club’s worst home loss in a decade, as West Bromwich Albion ran riot in a 5-2 hammering.
The result was not simply a case of man advantage after Thiago Silva was sent off and Sam Allardyce can be optimistic about his club’s survival hopes with 17th-place Newcastle United eight points above it with eight games to go.
Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson proved West Brom can turn it on when needed, but the only question is if the team can sustain that tempo in the final stretch to help Allardyce keep his record of never being relegated from the top flight intact. (Reuters)