De Bruyne Sparks Man City’s Comeback in 4-2 Win over Crystal Palace

Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring the 4-1 lead during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City in London, Britain, 06 April 2024. (EPA)

15:48-6 April 2024 AD ـ 28 Ramadan 1445 AH

De Bruyne Sparks Man City’s Comeback in 4-2 Win over Crystal Palace

Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring the 4-1 lead during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City in London, Britain, 06 April 2024. (EPA)

A stunning strike by Kevin De Bruyne elicited kisses from the sideline from Pep Guardiola and launched title-chasing Manchester City’s comeback in a 4-2 win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

City’s four-month unbeaten streak in all competitions was placed in jeopardy almost immediately after kickoff at Selhurst Park when Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Palace a third-minute lead with a goal on a breakaway.

In the end, there was nothing for City to worry about.

De Bruyne equalized 10 minutes later and it was one for the season highlight reel as the Belgium playmaker cut inside from the left and curled a right-footed shot from the corner of the area into the top corner of the net.

The excitable Guardiola responded by placing his fingers to his lips and blowing kisses to De Bruyne, and the manager also enjoyed a strike by Rico Lewis two minutes into the second half that put City in front for the first time.

Erling Haaland scored for the first time in four City matches by tapping in De Bruyne’s cross in the 66th for his league-leading 19th goal of the campaign.

De Bruyne sealed City’s impressive recovery in the 70th by ramming home a left-footed shot off Rodri’s layoff for his second goal of the game, taking him to 100 for the club since joining from Wolfsburg in 2015.

"It has been a very untypical season with the injuries and coming back," said De Bruyne, who was injured in the first game of the season and missed the next five months. "Sometimes I feel good, sometimes I feel a little bit off with my body.

"I have tried to prepare myself as best as possible. I try to do the job as good as possible and today I did well."

Substitute Odsonne Edouard grabbed a consolation for Palace.

City joined first-place Liverpool on 70 points ahead of the Reds’ match at fierce rival Manchester United on Sunday. Third-place Arsenal, which plays Brighton later Saturday, is two points back.

"It’s just like every other title race — we have to win every game," Lewis said. "There’s three teams in it and we have to be the strongest team."

City next plays Tuesday at Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

Swiatek is in Total Control during a 6-1, 6-0 Rout of Raducanu

18 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek celebrates her victory over Britain's Emma Raducanu during their women's singles third round match of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa

Asharq Al Awsat

07:51-18 January 2025 AD ـ 19 Rajab 1446 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

07:51-18 January 2025 AD ـ 19 Rajab 1446 AH

Swiatek is in Total Control during a 6-1, 6-0 Rout of Raducanu

Everything came so easily for Iga Swiatek during a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Emma Raducanu on Saturday in the only Australian Open women's third-round match between two past Grand Slam champions — if you thought that meant it would be close, you'd have been rather wrong — that this was how she described it:
“I felt like the ball,” The Associated Press quoted Swiatek as saying, “is listening to me.”
Loud and clear. Asked to explain that sensation, Swiatek put her two index fingers a few inches apart and said, “It’s just being able to aim for this kind of space.” Then she spread her palms more than a foot apart to show that's the margin for error on other days.
The difference, she said, comes down to “being more precise and actually knowing where the ball is going to go, seeing the effects that you want it to.”
When the five-time major champion and former long-time No. 1-ranked woman — now No. 2, behind Aryna Sabalenka — is at the height of her powers, as she sure has seemed to be in Week 1 at Melbourne Park, it is hard for anyone to slow Swiatek down.
The heavy-spinning, high-bouncing forehands. The squeaky-sneaker scrambling to get to every shot. The terrific returning. And so on.
Against Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open as a teenage qualifier, Swiatek played at a level she called “perfect.”
Indeed, Swiatek mounted a 24-9 edge in winners, made only 12 unforced errors — roughly half of Raducanu's 22 — and claimed 59 points to 29. That caused one spectator to yell out, “No mercy!” in the second set as Swiatek was reeling off the last 11 games after the match was tied at 1-all early with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature approaching 80 degrees Fahrenheit (above 25 Celsius).
“I think it was a little bit of her playing well, and me not playing so well,” Raducanu said. “That combination is probably not good.”
Swiatek, who agreed to accept a one-month suspension in a doping case late last year, owns four trophies from the French Open and one from the US Open. But she’s never been beyond the semifinals in Australia; she lost in that round to Danielle Collins in 2022.
A year ago, Swiatek was upset in the third round by teenager Linda Noskova.

De Bruyne Sparks Man City’s Comeback in 4-2 Win over Crystal Palace

De Bruyne Sparks Man City’s Comeback in 4-2 Win over Crystal Palace

Most Viewed

Swiatek is in Total Control during a 6-1, 6-0 Rout of Raducanu

Swiatek is in Total Control during a 6-1, 6-0 Rout of Raducanu

لم تشترك بعد