Enter Kevin De Bruyne. To a match Newcastle were winning, and to a title race where Manchester City threatened to slip off the pace. He had not played in the Premier League for five months. Within five minutes there was his belated first goal of the season, and within another 17 a pass to permit Oscar Bobb to score an injury-time winner, complete the second turnaround of a stunning game and put City a mere two points behind Liverpool. No wonder Pep Guardiola says there are few in the world with his ability to win games. This one was being lost without him, won with him. The theory that City will be better in the second half of the season has long been based around the Belgian but it was an illustration of how and why, of the class that can elevate him above even outstanding players.
His cameo amounted to a three-point turn on the road, for De Bruyne and City: surely their best away result in the division this season – even while an eighth defeat in 10 games leaves Newcastle in an unflattering 10th position – and a test passed in a classic of visceral excitement.
