Guardiola: ‘Legend’ De Bruyne can lead Man City title charge

Pep Guardiola hailed Kevin De Bruyne as a “legend” after the midfielder scored a goal and an assist on his return to the Premier League to help Manchester City secure a dramatic 3-2 victory over Newcastle United.

De Bruyne came on in the 69th minute with City trailing 2-1 at St James' Park before scoring to make it 2-2, then setting up 20-year-old Oscar Bobb for a winner in the 91st minute.

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It was the Belgian's first league appearance since August after spending five months on the bench due to a hamstring injury that required surgery to correct.

“He’s a legend,” Guardiola said. “I had the feeling he wasn't ready until 90 minutes after five months, so we have this situation, this impact in the last minutes.

“The goal and the assist, it is appreciated by our people and I hope that in the last months he can help us to be there until the end.”

The result, which looked unlikely when Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon scored within two minutes in the first half to put Newcastle 2-1 ahead after Bernardo Silva's opener, moved City into second place in the standings, two points behind leader Liverpool.

And after an exhilarating evening, Guardiola felt emboldened to speak up about his side's chances of winning a record fourth consecutive Premier League title.

“The team is alive,” he said.

“Why shouldn't we try again? We won three [titles] in a row, five out of the last six, so why not? It's really important because Liverpool are flying over the last month and we have to go to Anfield so it's better to be close to them.”

City's only downside was an injury to Ederson which forced the Brazilian goalkeeper off the field within five minutes.

Guardiola's side will not play again until their FA Cup fourth round match against Tottenham on January 26, and Guardiola hopes the problem is not serious.

“He took a big blow,” the City manager said.

“I haven't spoken to the doctor. But just one shot, everything will be fine because he won't play for 10 days.”