De Bruyne sparks City comeback victory as Forest stumble again

Kevin De Bruyne wants to deliver Champions League qualification to Manchester City as a parting gift to his club of the last 10 years.

The Belgium playmaker certainly looked like a man on a mission in sparking City’s remarkable fightback against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

After City fell two goals behind after 21 minutes, the 33-year-old De Bruyne curled a free kick in off the post to begin the comeback and had a hand in goals by Omar Marmoush and Mateo Kovacic in the first half. James McAtee added a fourth - off a pass from goalkeeper Ederson, who later came off injured - before fellow academy product Nico O’Reilly wrapped up the win.

It was a display showing the enduring quality of De Bruyne, who announced last week he would be leaving City at the end of the season, and he waved to the home fans while being given a standing ovation after being substituted in the 87th minute.

“I want to go away with a Champions League (place) for this team because they deserve it,” he said. “We’ve been in the Champions League for the nine, 10 years that I’ve been here so I hope we can do that for the team next year and I’ll just try to play good football like I’ve always done.”

The victory lifted City - the winner of the last four Premier League titles but a shadow of its former self this season - into fourth place above Chelsea and Newcastle, who have games in hand in the race to secure England’s five Champions League spots.

City moved two points behind third-place Nottingham Forest, which lost 1-0 at home to Everton after conceding in stoppage time.

Seventh-place Aston Villa also is in contention for Champions League qualification and won 3-0 at already-relegated Southampton to climb to fifth place and stay a point behind Man City. Chelsea and Newcastle are a point further back.

Second-place Arsenal is at home to Brentford later Saturday in between matches against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals.

Injuries have affected De Bruyne’s impact in recent seasons but his class can still shine through, with his goal a turning point against Palace and his assist for Kovacic being the 119th of his Premier League career.

“I would say basically I have been pain-free for the last six weeks and that’s a massive difference,” De Bruyne said. “It was hard but now I feel free, and able to do a lot of training sessions. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I want to play on. We will see where I can end up.”

His goal from a direct free kick shocked City into action after early goals by Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards for Palace.

“The performance of Kevin, as he has done for many, many years in many, many games - he played fantastic,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “He helped us to break this momentum that was not good. The gratitude we have, I have, to him is huge.”

Forest’s bid for Champions League qualification has been one of the stories of the season but the team is starting to wobble in the run-in.

Abdoulaye Doucoure slotted home a finish on the break in the fourth minute of stoppage time for Everton’s winner as Forest lost a second straight game, after being beaten at Villa last weekend.

There’s now only four points between Forest and seventh-place Newcastle, which has two games in hand - the first being against Manchester United on Sunday.

Villa was laboring against last-place Southampton until manager Unai Emery brought on Ollie Watkins and Donyell Malen in the 66th minute.

Seven minutes later, Watkins got on the end of a lofted pass from Youri Tielemans and directed a volley in off the crossbar. Malen added a second goal in the 79th and John McGinn scored a third off a rebound from Marco Asensio’s second saved penalty of the match.

It was a fourth straight win in the league for Villa, which is seeking to qualify for the Champions League in back-to-back seasons - having not been in Europe’s top competition since 1983.

Villa has reached the Champions League quarterfinals this season and is 3-1 down to Paris Saint-Germain after the first leg.

Leicester, which is in next-to-last place and heading for relegation, scored for the first time since Jan. 26 in holding Brighton to a 2-2 draw.

It ended an eight-game scoring drought for Leicester, whose goals came from Stephy Mavididi and Caleb Okoli. Joao Pedro scored twice for Brighton.

Agencies