Manchester City got back to winning ways on Wednesday night with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest to end their winless streak, and it looked seemingly to be down to the return of one man: Kevin De Bruyne.
Pep Guardiola has been keeping careful with the Belgian’s fitness in recent weeks, only risking him from the bench of late, but De Bruyne’s long-awaited restoration to the matchday XI appeared to have achieved the desired effect as Man City looked much more like their dominant selves.
Starting his first game in nearly three months, the midfield maestro created Bernardo Silva’s opening goal in just the eighth minute and scored a powerful strike for the second around the half-hour mark, as well as helping keep the tempo ticking throughout the game.
The 33-year-old unsurprisingly picked up the Man of the Match award following his impressive return to the starting lineup, being met with a standing ovation when was taken off in the 74th minute. You watch back his emphatic moment of the night here:
Netting not only his first goal since August but helping finally break the Blues’ winless run (seven losses, one draw prior to the Forest win), De Bruyne‘s full return was desperately needed both for the team and the fans.
For all the talk of Rodri’s injury having killed City’s form, and the 2024 Ballon D’or winner’s absence has certainly been felt immensely by those around the club, KDB’s contribution came as the right tonic and just at the right time.
The increase in creativity and goal threat also looked to translate to the forwards, with a total of 17 shots created and Jérémy Doku getting himself on the scoresheet for the third and final finish at the death.
At the other end of the pitch, Guardiola‘s men also managed to keep their first clean sheet since 26 October and with every game now a must-win if they are to stand even the slimmest chance of catching Arne Slot’s high-flying Scousers, regaining their levels at both ends of the pitch is crucial.
Speaking after the game, the number 17 thanked the fan for turning up to the Etihad Stadium on what was a very grim and rainy night in Manchester; he also went to confess that whilst it’s been a difficult period for him personally, he was just happy to get past 70 minutes and hopefully shift the “momentum”.
De Bruyne gave an uplifted but honest interview after ending a seven-game streak without a win for City.
De Bruyne’s performance saw plenty hopping on social media to once again proclaim not just the best midfielder in English football but “the greatest player” full stop and perhaps even the greatest the Premier League has ever seen. It’s getting hard to argue otherwise at this point. We’re getting déjà vu…
Be it the hamstring injury that’s been keeping him out most, or the abdominal issues that have held him back from being a regular starter most recently, neither his quality, age nor his relationship with Pep come into it – if/when he can play, he’s simply phenomenal.
With title rivals Liverpool having dropped points for just the third time all season with a dramatic 3-3 draw against Newcastle, it was pretty much a perfect night for Man City, though they still have a mountain to climb and can’t afford to make any slip-ups if they want to be in the conversation come May.
One thing is for sure, since it looks as though Rodri is very unlikely to make an appearance before the end of the season – no matter how determined he might be to make a comeback – the four-time consecutive champions will surely need to Kev to stay fit even if they want to close that nine-point gap.
You can see the highlights from Man City’s 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest down below:
Featured Images — Sky Sports (screenshot via YouTube)
Sport
Streamer AngryGinge ‘arrested and banned’ from Silvestone at the British GP
Danny Jones
Popular Manc influencer, ‘AngryGinge’, was arrested, fined and ultimately banned from Silverstone at this year’s British GP.
The Salford-born Twitch streamer, YouTuber and social media personality (real name Morgan Burtwhistle) was detained at the circuit after being arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
Ginge recently starred in Soccer Aid 2025 and is a well-known face both on the internet and in the sporting world, regularly working in and around football, and is an avid Manchester United – even featuring in the club’s third kit launch video last year.
The 23-year-old and two other fellow streamers, ‘Chazza’ and ‘Samham’, were accused of criminal damage after sitting in an F1 car whilst recording around the Silverstone complex.
AngryGinge returned to streaming after being detained by police for 15 hours
The streamer and several friends were arrested for climbing into a display F1 car at the British Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/WDSYb6MVtj
“On Friday, July 4, NP received a report that a classic Formula 1 car on display at Silverstone Circuit during the British Grand Prix event had sustained several thousands of pounds worth of damage, which was alleged to have been caused by someone accessing the display stand and climbing into the vehicle.
“Officers carried out initial inquiries, and suspects were identified. Three men, aged 23, 25 and 27, were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a vehicle and taken into police custody.
“Following a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident, all three men were released with no further action.”
Burtwhistle went into more detail on the incident on socials, explaining that the trio were taken away in handcuffs and “locked up” for several hours – 15 hours, according to SamHam (Samuel Imie).
All three individuals deny causing any damage to the racecar, even despite users sharing clips from the livestream footage captured for the Red Bull online Content on the day that many argue incriminates them, or at least sounds like it – we’ll let you watch and decide for yourselves.
Ginge himself went on to detail that ridculousness of the situation, explaining how he was effectively detained for watching someone else climb into the vehicle.
He’ll be dining out in this one for some time, you can be sure of that.
He’s literally a brands dream isn’t he 😂 so quick and smart with it
Featured Images — Soccer Aid/angryginge13 (screenshot via Twitch)/Samham (via X)
Sport
Boxing legend Ricky Hatton is coming out of retirement after more than a decade
Danny Jones
Mancunian and British boxing legend Ricky Hatton MBE is coming out of retirement after more than a decade for his first competitive fight in 13 long years.
This is sure to be one to watch.
The Stockport-born and Hattersley-raised fighter first retired back in 2011, but did flirt with a comeback a year later in what turned out to be a one-off fight and defeat to 35-year-old Ukrainian welterweight, Vyacheslav Senchenko.
‘Hitman’ Hatton also got back in the ring for an exhibition match against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, enduring eight two-minute rounds after a decade away from fighting, but now he’ll be undertaking an official fight over in the United Arab Emirates.
Lacing up his gloves at 46 years old, Hatton will be facing fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah (same age), who was the first professional boxer in the UAE.
The ‘Pride of Hyde’ may have been out of the competitive sporting sphere for a while, but he’s still remained an active figure in the boxing world.
In addition to training his son, Campbell, who has followed in his father’s fighting footsteps, Hatton has continued to coach other young boxing talents from his gym in Tameside, including John Hedges and Chloe Watson.
Campbell, 24, has won 14 of his 16 fights, losing just twice since he began in 2021.
Meanwhile, his dad – who still boasts a record of 45 victories from 48 matches, 32 of which were by knockout – will be once again focusing on getting himself back in fighting shape for the Dubai bout.
The local athlete has done plenty to dispel the old jabs of ‘Ricky Fatton’ in recent times, mind you, having taken his talents as a once-promising young footballer to play in the Manchester Remembers charity match, as well as the aforementioned Barrera exhibition.
Set for this winter, Ricky Hatton will face fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah in a middleweight contest on Friday, 2 December, telling national media via video call in the recent press conference that confirmed he would be coming out of retirement: “What you’re trying to do there for boxing in Dubai is fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Al Dah added: “It will be a true fight, true action. And I will do my best, because everybody in the UAE and the Gulf, they will watch this fight. The place will be sold out, and it will be watched around the world.”
Will those Haymakers still hit like they used to? Well shall see before the end of the year.
Danny Jones -
4th December 2024 
