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FA Cup: De Bruyne Returns in a Big Win for Man City

Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Huddersfield Town - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 7, 2024 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne applauds fans after the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Huddersfield Town - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 7, 2024 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne applauds fans after the match. (Reuters)
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FA Cup: De Bruyne Returns in a Big Win for Man City

Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Huddersfield Town - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 7, 2024 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne applauds fans after the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Huddersfield Town - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 7, 2024 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne applauds fans after the match. (Reuters)

Kevin De Bruyne set up a goal on his return from injury after nearly five months out as Manchester City opened its FA Cup title defense with a 5-0 win over second-tier Huddersfield on Sunday.

There was also a victory in the third round for Wrexham, the fourth-tier club owned by Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and with a strong tradition in the famous cup competition, while Premier League teams West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Luton were all held to draws at home by lower-division opponents.

De Bruyne hasn’t played since sustaining a hamstring injury at Burnley on the opening day of the Premier League season on Aug. 11. The Belgium playmaker came on as a 57th-minute substitute — when City was 2-0 ahead — and provided the cross that fellow replacement Jeremy Doku converted for the final goal in a one-sided match at Etihad Stadium.

Phil Foden scored twice, Julian Alvarez added another and there was an own-goal for City, which saw defender Manuel Akanji go off injured in the first half.

Erling Haaland was still deemed not fit enough to feature for City, but should be back soon to complement the returning De Bruyne and Doku as Pep Guardiola's team go for an unlikely repeat of its treble of major trophies won last season.

Wrexham won 1-0 at Shrewsbury, a local rival from a division higher in English soccer's pyramid, thanks to Tom O'Connor's second-half goal.

The buzz around Wrexham and its celebrity owners — Reynolds and fellow Hollywood actor Rob McElhenney — reached new levels during a cup run around this time last year when the team beat one second-tier Championship team in Coventry and then took another, Premier League-bound Sheffield United, to a replay. But promotion is the big goal this season for Wrexham, which is in third place in League Two.

In more surprising results, West Ham failed to hold onto a lead and drew 1-1 with second-tier Bristol City, Forest had to come from 2-0 down to draw with third-tier Blackpool 2-2 and another third-tier team, Bolton, held Luton 0-0.

Arsenal hosts Liverpool in the standout third-round match later Sunday.

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Chicago Bulls Plan to Retire Derrick Rose’s Jersey Next Season

Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
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Chicago Bulls Plan to Retire Derrick Rose’s Jersey Next Season

Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)

Derrick Rose wasn't sure how he will feel when sees his No. 1 hanging from the rafters. He was still trying to process the news.

The Chicago Bulls announced Saturday they plan to retire Rose's jersey sometime next season. The Chicago product and MVP will join Michael Jordan (23), Scottie Pippen (33), Jerry Sloan (4) and Bob Love (10) as the only players whose numbers have been retired by the team.

Team president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf informed him in person on Saturday morning, telling him “nobody’s wearing that No. 1 jersey again” unless son PJ plays for the team. Rose, who retired in September after 16 seasons, was already scheduled to be honored with tributes before and during their game against the New York Knicks that night. The Bulls said they will have more details about the jersey retirement at a later date.

“Tonight is not about that,” Rose said. He said it was about showing appreciation for “everybody that was a part of the story, the journey, the good, the bad, the ugly.”

“It's celebrating everyone,” he said. “I understand coming from Chicago that it's tough love. It's a lot of tough love. You could forget about the love sometimes and just give toughness. Coming back, me being raised off of that tough love, I just wanted to show the love part. There's toughness, too, but you don't have to be tough all the time. It's understanding and realizing why I'm here.”

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement: “Derrick is both a hometown hero and a symbol of an entire era of Bulls basketball."

On Saturday, the Bulls unveiled the “Derrick Rose Experience” in the United Center’s atrium showcasing memorabilia from his career. Players on both teams wore themed shooting shirts displaying “1.4.25” symbolizing the date as well as the numbers he wore with the Bulls, Knicks and at Chicago's Simeon Career Academy. Black T-shirts emblazoned with a red rose were at each seat. There were to be moments throughout the game recognizing Rose, his family and teammates.

At halftime, Rose walked out to those familiar “MVP! MVP!” chants after a highlight video played. He took a seat next to his mom, Brenda. He broke down when former teammate Joakim Noah told him he “always put your city on your back” and said he's “the people's champ.” Another video narrated by PJ was shown before Rose addressed the crowd.

“So well deserved,” New York's Tom Thibodeau, who coached Rose in his prime with the Bulls as well as in New York and Minnesota, said before the game. “For what he means to the city, the Bulls, the entire NBA. I had the opportunity to coach against him, so I know how difficult that is. I had the good fortune to coach him. You see in looking in the eyes of the opponent, when they had to guard him you could see the fear and the respect.”

Thibodeau said Rose — known for his humility almost as much as his explosiveness — was “probably the most beloved player in the league.” He also said he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft, went from being Rookie of the Year to an All-Star to NBA MVP in his first three seasons. He remains the league's youngest MVP, winning it when he was 22.

A major knee injury during the 2012 playoffs forced him to miss almost two full seasons and he contemplated stepping away from the game several times following other injury issues.

Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 regular-season games. He averaged 21 points per game before the ACL tear 12 years ago and 15.1 per game in the seasons that followed. But he insisted he doesn't think about what might have been if not for the injuries.

“The last time I had those conversations was years and years ago,” he said. “Who knows? But at the same time, with me being obsessed, I wouldn't have found out who I was as a person. I was obsessed with the game. Not love, I was obsessed. If I would have won one championship, I would have wanted four. And that would have pulled me further and further away from finding self-knowledge, self-revelation, my identity. Everybody's story is different. For some reason, mine ended being this way. Coming from Chicago, we roll with the punches.”