Premier League: De Bruyne shines as Man City break seven-game winless streak

Manchester City ended their seven-game winless streak in style, securing a dominant 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Kevin De Bruyne, returning to the starting lineup after nearly three months, delivered a match-winning performance at the Etihad Stadium.

The Belgian maestro was instrumental in Bernardo Silva’s opener and added a goal of his own before Jeremy Doku sealed the win with a third.

This much-needed result lifted the reigning English champions back into the top four, narrowing the gap to nine points behind league leaders Liverpool, who were held to a 3-3 draw at Newcastle.

City’s barren run had included six defeats, leaving them 11 points adrift of Liverpool before kick-off.

De Bruyne’s presence brought a resurgence of form, dispelling any notions of a rift with manager Pep Guardiola, who had faced questions about the player’s gradual return from injury.

Guardiola made four changes to his squad following Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Liverpool, bringing in Josko Gvardiol, Doku, and Jack Grealish alongside De Bruyne.

The 33-year-old showcased his class, creating numerous chances and demonstrating his enduring value to the team.

This victory reestablishes City as a title contender and highlights De Bruyne’s pivotal role in their quest for success this season.

It took just eight minutes for City to make the breakthrough.

Ilkay Gundogan’s cross was headed back towards goal by De Bruyne and Silva was in the right place to tap home from centimetres out.

Guardiola claimed pre-match that Ederson remains his number one goalkeeper but the Brazilian was again benched in favour of Stefan Ortega.

The German made a big save to deny Morgan Gibbs-White before Forest missed a glorious chance to put the Etihad crowd back on edge.

Chris Wood’s fine goalscoring form has been the catalyst to a fabulous season so far for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.

But the New Zealander was wayward as he fired wide with just Ortega to beat.

De Bruyne settled City nerves on 31 minutes when he collected Doku’s pass inside the area and coolly slotted into the top corner.

Erling Haaland has now failed to find the net in his last three Premier League games.

But the Norwegian did play a part in the third goal with the assist for Doku, who cut inside and fired into the far corner.

De Bruyne saw a free-kick curl just wide and was then denied a second by his international team-mate Matz Sels.

He was given a standing ovation when he departed 15 minutes from time.

City spectacularly collapsed from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord in the Champions League eight days ago.

However, there was never any sense of a repeat as they controlled the closing stages to add a clean sheet to an all-round restorative night for Guardiola’s men. Defeat leaves Forest still in sixth but now four points off the top four.