Coach Pep Guardiola was eager to emphasize before the match against Nottingham Forest that the return of Kevin De Bruyne will not solve all of Manchester City's problems.
After 6 losses and 1 draw, the Belgian midfielder could not solve everything. However, De Bruyne had 1 goal and 1 assist in the first 30 minutes of his return. Although not the solution to all the problems affecting Guardiola's team, De Bruyne is good at covering up the cracks.
The Citizens beat Nottingham 3-0 to mark their first win in any competition since late October. De Bruyne will turn 34 next summer and the last 18 months of his career have been ruined by injuries. However, Guardiola's side are still better off with him in the squad.
"I am very happy for De Bruyne. Last season, he was injured for many months, this season as well. I'm so happy to have him back. De Bruyne fought a lot. He played a great 75 minutes. We need to win. The club, the players, everyone need to win," said Guardiola.
In addition, Guardiola also denied speculation that he and De Bruyne had a disagreement in the 0-2 loss to Liverpool. The Spaniard stressed that the Belgian player should be used cautiously after six weeks out. In the match against Nottingham, Guardiola decided it was time to bring De Bruyne back.
It is too early to say that De Bruyne or Man City have returned to their best form. The first win in seven games will be a welcome relief for Guardiola, but there are still many problems to deal with.
Nottingham had 12 shots and should have scored at least 1 goal. Chris Wood had a golden chance to level the score at 1-1 in the middle of the first half but missed. Defensive weakness - one of the reasons for Man City's disastrous streak - has not been overcome. Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake have even had to leave the pitch due to injury.
"The problems continue with Akanji and Ake, but we have proven how incredibly strong we are. We played well, we still missed some easy things and lost some passes. It's better than the losses to Liverpool and Bournemouth but quite similar to other games where we didn't win. Today we won. That's it," Guardiola added.
Still struggling with a list of injuries and weak defense, Guardiola knows De Bruyne is not the answer to all his problems. But it will certainly be good news for Man City when the Belgian midfielder returns.
