Kevin De Bruyne marks Premier League return with statement showing why Man City are still favorites

With a marvelous goal and an assist, getting the Belgian back is bad news for the rest of the league

With a 3-2 victory over Newcastle United, Manchester City have climbed into second place in the Premier League, but it means so much more than three points as Kevin De Bruyne marked his return with a goal and an assist. Dealing with a hamstring injury since the first match of the season, De Bruyne has been absent for all but four games of City's season in all competitions. In those games that he has appeared in, the Belgian now has one goal and three assists. 

Without both De Bruyne and Erling Haaland for the past four Premier League matches, it's impressive that City have been able to keep their strong levels of performance going but it seemed like that'd be coming to an end in the first half facing Newcastle. Less than 10 minutes into the match, Ederson had to be replaced by Stefan Ortega in net following a collision and it went downhill after Bernardo Silva's goal was cancelled out by Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon both scoring before the half. Newcastle were growing into the match after their own struggles as of late and had control. 

That wouldn't last long as De Bruyne entered in the 69th minute and immediately created a chance from a free kick. Five minutes and five touches later, De Bruyne scored a goal to level things following an assist from Rodri. Floating into space, De Bruyne went on a mazy run that Newcastle couldn't keep up with, again making the hard goals seem like things that he can do in his sleep.