Kevin De Bruyne was hailed by Pep Guardiola as a “unique” talent after his return to duty in Manchester City’s FA Cup thrashing of Huddersfield.
Coming in as a substitute in the 57th minute, the Belgian international scored and set up another as the holders strolled to a 5-0 victory over second-tier strugglers Huddersfield in a completely one-sided match at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
De Bruyne made his senior debut after missing August’s Premier League opening against Burnley due to a hamstring injury.
After 32-year-old Kevin De Bruyne replaced Julian Alvarez, chants of “Oh Kevin De Bruyne” resounded across the stadium. City had already taken a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Alvarez.
Ben Jackson’s own goal and another Foden attempt gave Guardiola’s team a two-goal advantage, then Jeremy Doku scored the game-winning goal after receiving a delicate lofted cross from De Bruyne.
“He played really good minutes,” Guardiola said of De Bruyne, the City manager.
When the game was closer in the first half, we felt it would be wiser to wait until halftime to play.The next step, as I said previously, is for him to put in more time in training rather than playing games; it was excellent. Despite this, he is still unprepared for a whole hour.
“There are few (like) Kevin in the world. He helps win games,” the Spaniard remarked. Even though we have excellent football skills, we lose games against players like Kevin, (Erling) Haaland, Phil Foden, and Julian Alvarez.
Having him back is crucial for that reason. Kevin is one of a kind; he’s great. He had to wait a long time for surgery. His return was well appreciated, as was the quality of the assist that allowed Jeremy Dooku to score in his first few minutes.
The return of several more senior players is expected by Guardiola shortly, and City’s aspirations of retaining the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup they won in their 2022/23 ‘treble’ season will be bolstered by De Bruyne’s world-class brilliance.
“What I want is to arrive in the second part of the season with everyone fit,” remarked the coach. Jeremy, John (Stones), Erling, and Kevin must return. Upon their return, we will have a squad capable of competing at a high level in all kind of events.