It took the introduction of the great Kevin De Bruyne to down Newcastle United on Saturday evening.
After putting in a very strong performance against Manchester City and even taking the lead after falling behind, Newcastle fell victim to De Bruyne’s brilliance.
Clearly, that does not make the fact they lost their fourth Premier League game in a row any easier to accept but it is a sign of improvement.
Battered at St James’ Park on Boxing Day against Nottingham Forest, Newcastle did prove they can compete against a truly elite side even despite so many injuries.
Still, it was De Bruyne who proved the ultimate difference.
Newcastle 2-3 Man City: What Kevin De Bruyne did to Bruno Guimaraes after the game
De Bruyne scored the equaliser to make it 2-2 before playing a glorious ball over to Oscar Bobb for City’s later winner.
Sadly for Newcastle, it was a moment of brilliance in the dying embers. It, however, wasn’t the only fantastic pass of the evening.
Bruno Guimaraes teed up Alexander Isak for his goal with an equally fantastic assist in the first-half and it seemed the £40m Brazilian did enough to impress De Bruyne.
According to The Chronicle, the City star broke away from his team’s celebrations after the full-time whistle to console and offer some words to the dejected Guimaraes.
Bruno Guimaraes: Newcastle injury scare
Guimaraes is so important to Newcastle, who are yet to win a Premier League game without him in the team since he joined from Lyon in January 2022.
So it will be of major concern that the 26-year-old appeared to be carrying an injury on Saturday. Indeed, Chris Waugh of The Athletic noted that Guimaraes came out for the second-half with strapping around his left hamstring.
Hopefully, the midfielder can rest over the mini-break to come.
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