For him, the (bad) page has been turned. Back on the pitch after the catastrophic performance of the Belgian selection at the World Cup, Kevin De Bruyne has regained his talent with his club. With his two assists, the Manchester City midfielder allowed his team to qualify (3-2) on Thursday evening for the quarter-finals of the English League Cup against Liverpool, the defending champion. Haaland scored.
In this post-world meeting, the two teams presented themselves in new compositions, with many absent on both sides. Liverpool were without Van Dikj, Konaté, and Jota. At home, the Citizens showed up without Walker, Grealish, Stones, Phillips, Foden, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Silva and Alvarez, the Argentine world champion. On the other hand, Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were good starters.
The first shivers were not long in coming at the Etihad Stadium since from the first minute the star striker of City spun alone on goal but completely missed his lobed shot, which passed well above Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal. The very clear domination of City at the start of the match was finally rewarded by the opener of the inevitable Norwegian striker, who beat defender Joe Gomez on a cross from Kevin De Bruyne to deceive Kelleher with a resumption of the left (1-0, 10th).
But the reaction of the Reds was quick and the Portuguese Fabio Carvalho equalized by taking over a pass from James Milner (1-1, 20th). The meeting, as rhythmic as it was balanced, saw the Citizens miss two big chances by Gündogan (36th) then Nathan Ake with a header (37th). Two attempts saved by Kelleher, each time on passes from … De Bruyne. Just before the break Darwin Nunez, the Uruguayan from Liverpool missed two clear chances.
After the break, Algerian international Riyad Mahrez (2-1, 47th) gave City the lead, immediately followed by the equalizer from Mohamed Salah (2-2, 48th). The Mancunian salute once again came from De Bruyne, who dropped a new cross on the head of the Dutchman Nathan Ake (3-2, 58th). Manchester City joins Tuesday and Wednesday qualifiers Wolverhampton, Southampton, Newcastle, Leicester, Charlton (D3), Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in the quarter-finals.
