Manchester City defeated Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Wednesday to snap their four-game losing streak in the Premier League.
Kevin De Bruyne scored one goal and assisted on another in his first start in over two months.
In addition, goals from Jeremy Doku and Bernardo Silva helped put an end to City’s seven-game losing streak in all competitions, moving Pep Guardiola’s team up to fourth place with Forest in sixth.
De Bruyne had not played since sustaining an abdominal injury in September, but his presence was noticed right away as he assisted City in scoring in the eighth minute when Silva tucked the ball home from close range after Ilkay Gundogan lifted in a cross that the Belgian headed towards goal.
In the 31st minute, De Bruyne scored his own goal after grabbing a feed from Doku and shooting from just inside the 18-yard area.
When Doku met a precise long ball from Erling Haaland in the 57th minute, he cut inside his man and smashed it into the far corner, thus ending the match.
After playing as a substitute in the team’s five previous games, including Sunday’s 2-0 loss to league leaders Liverpool that dropped champions City to fifth place in the standings, De Bruyne had relieved City supporters chanting his name all night.
The frequently injured De Bruyne and Guardiola were rumoured to be at odds, but on Wednesday, the 33-year-old was awarded the captain’s armband and led the team in style.
The most obvious of Forest’s wasted opportunities came when Chris Wood had a one-on-one with goalie Stefan Ortega but missed the mark.
Less than a minute later, De Bruyne scored, leaving Wood to lament his chance to tie the score.
For the second straight game, Guardiola chose Ortega over Ederson as his goalkeeper, and early on, the German produced an incredible diving stop from a blazing shot from Morgan Gibbs-White.
