MANCHESTER CITY 1-0 WOLVES: Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal of the game to help Pep Guardiola’s side edge closer to Champions League qualification despite a largely unconvincing display
It was not the very cleanest of strikes but it typified the career-long work of one of the finest players to grace the Premier League.
Calm, composed, clever, minimum of fuss. It remains hard to believe that Kevin De Bruyne is being allowed to walk away from the Etihad. His body turns 34 at the end of next month but his footballing brain remains wonderfully bright.
In his note announcing his farewell tour, De Bruyne said he was making it his mission to ensure City’s Champions League participation continued next season. And this goal could end up being decisive in that challenge.
Ahead of the game, comments emanating from a Brazilian broadcaster suggested Guardiola would take a break from management when his Etihad contract ends in 2027. He later clarified his remarks, saying he would take a break whenever his time with City was over.
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Well, whenever that may be, there are no signs of him being ready for a rest any time soon. Mind you, his enthusiasm must have been tested by the early parts of this contest.
Suffice to say, the home fans protesting by staying on the concourses for the first six minutes of the game – and there were a lot of them – should have stayed there for a good while longer. It was abysmal stuff, particularly from Guardiola’s men, who looked as though they were staging some go-slow protest of their own.
They really should have been behind midway through a dismal first half but, inexplicably, Nelson Semedo tried to find Marshall Munetsi rather than convert a simple chance. And a few minutes later, Rayan Ait-Nouri hit a post and had his follow-up effort cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol.
Over half an hour had passed before City mustered an attempt of any note, Jose Sa helping Nico O’Reilly’s shot over the bar. But soon after, City were ahead. Jeremy Doku had been their brightest spark and after sterling ball-winning work from Bernardo Silva, the Belgian winger went past Matt Doherty and his reverse pass was persuaded home by one of the coolest side-foots the Premier League has seen.
And just a couple of minutes after the restart, there was another snapshot of why De Bruyne is so loved in these parts when he tracked back with the determination that should be the preserve of younger men. He certainly seemed more energetic than some of his team-mates, whose lethargy lingered in the second half.
And when no-one closed him down, the eye-catching Cunha fizzed a strike against Ederson’s upright. It was a post-shaking sign that Wolves would be extremely dangerous going into the final quarter of the match
And Guardiola could sense the nervousness amongst his players, sending on Manuel Akanji for O’Reilly, who was not the only one to be giving away possession with alarming frequency. Even in this relatively disappointing season, it was still rare to see City so tentative, so cautious even.
But the stakes are high. The idea that Guardiola could spend at least one of the remaining two seasons of his City contract NOT in the Champions League is unthinkable. Thankfully for him, he still – just about – has a player whose absence from these parts next season is, indeed, unthinkable.
Kevin De Bruyne, irreplaceable.
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