De Bruyne Relieved as Manchester City Shifts Momentum
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Manchester, Dec 5 (NationPress) Kevin De Bruyne has shared his relief following Manchester City's emphatic 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest, which marked the end of a seven-match winless spell in the Premier League.
Making his first start in over two months, De Bruyne immediately made his presence felt by assisting Bernardo Silva with a close-range header. Shortly after the half-hour mark, the team captain extended the lead with a powerful shot that found the top corner from 15 yards.
Jeremy Doku then added a third goal shortly after the break, solidifying City’s first victory since October.
De Bruyne expressed satisfaction at the team's performance and the much-needed win. “It’s nice. It’s not been a nice period for me, but you have to deal with it. It’s nice to be out there to change the momentum hopefully. It’s been a tough time. You have to accept the challenge, I think we did well today,” he remarked.
“We started really well. In the first 20 minutes, we were in control. I had a chance with the header, I was trying to score but it went next to the goal. It was fortunate that Bernardo was there. I was quite surprised because when I received the ball from Jeremy [for the second goal], I found myself in a lot of space. I just needed to aim for the target. Luckily, I managed to do that.
“I would describe our formation as more of a 3-3-4. We didn’t anticipate Forest playing man-to-man, so we adjusted accordingly. The initial 30 minutes were solid, but then we faced some challenges. The second half was a different scenario as we played against a team with five at the back.
“I attempted to manage the game a bit. In the second half, I had more control. I’m pleased I could last 70 minutes; it’s a significant improvement compared to my recent performances, and I’m glad about that,” De Bruyne added.
This victory propelled City back into the top four of the Premier League, accumulating 26 points from 14 matches, while Liverpool leads the table with 35 points from the same number of games.
De Bruyne is cautious about discussing the title race, emphasizing that the team's priority is to focus on incremental improvements with each match.
“To be honest, it’s not the right time to think about that. It’s been a challenging period. We must accept the challenge. The Premier League is becoming increasingly competitive. We recognize that every team is tough to face, and points are being shared among teams.
“Our focus should be on improving as a team first, winning games, and then we’ll see where we stand in a couple of months. Hopefully, we will have made some progress and closed the gap. For now, it’s not the time,” De Bruyne concluded.
