Kevin De Bruyne admitted it had not been a good time for him and a difficult time for Manchester City after helping the Premier League champions end their winless run

Kevin De Bruyne admitted it had not been a good time for him and a difficult time for Manchester City after helping the Premier League champions end their winless run

Kevin De Bruyne scored a goal and provided an assist as Manchester City returned to winning ways against Nottingham Forest.

 

The Belgian inspired a 3-0 win that ended a four-game losing streak for the reigning league champions and said afterwards that it had not been a good spell for him as he struggled to get back into the team after injury. “It was a difficult time,” he added.

 

Kevin De Bruyne admitted it had not been a good time for him and a difficult time for Manchester City after helping the Premier League champions end their winless run.

 

An inspired De Bruyne created the first goal and scored the second in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, just days after being left out of the team that lost a crucial match against league leaders Liverpool.

City’s victory ended a run of four consecutive defeats that threatened to do irreparable damage to their title defence, and Belgian De Bruyne was delighted to see that run come to an end as he made his first league start since September. “It wasn’t a good time for me,” De Bruyne told Amazon Prime.

 

“It’s good to be here and change the dynamic a bit. “It was a difficult time but you have to accept the challenge and I think we did well today.”

 

De Bruyne added that the injury that hampered his start to the season was “a mystery and an enigma,” while the Belgian also denied any rumours of a rift between him and Pep Guardiola. “It was an unfortunate injury, a mystery and an enigma,” De Bruyne told BBC Sport. “I’m getting better little by little.

 

I can play a good number of minutes without feeling bad.”

 

“There have never been any problems between me and Pep. He knows I struggled. It’s painful and uncomfortable. I want to get back on the pitch. “I felt good at the start of the season. I’ve been working hard to get my body back.

 

It’s probably going to be an up and down period from now on. Hopefully I can get my body back without too much pain and then everything will be fine.” Liverpool’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle saw fourth-placed City close the gap on the Reds to nine points.

 

De Bruyne’s impact on the team is underlined by the fact that they are unbeaten in their last 31 Premier League games he has started, winning 26 of them, and the midfielder said it was his composure that perhaps helped the team.

“Obviously it was a tough time and maybe they were looking to the older guys to bring a bit of calm to the game. I was able to do that,” he said. “I made a few mistakes in the first half but I thought Jack [Grealish] did a good job, holding the ball and controlling it a bit.

 

With Bernardo [Silva], you have the same guy and [Ilkay] Gundogan. “But then you have Jeremy [Doku] who is a bit more electric, so we had a mix today. I think we played well in these circumstances,” he said.

 

As for the gap with Liverpool, De Bruyne didn’t hesitate too much. “Now is not the time to dwell on it. It’s been a difficult time, we have to accept the challenge. The Premier League is getting harder and harder,” he said.