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De Bruyne targets Champions League place before Man City farewell / Photo: © AFP
De Bruyne targets Champions League place before Man City farewell
Kevin De Bruyne inspired Manchester City's 5-2 rout of Crystal Palace as the Belgian admitted he wants to lead them into the Champions League before saying an emotional farewell.
De Bruyne's dazzling display sparked City's revival from two goals down to beat Palace at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The 33-year-old midfielder, who joined City in 2015, was playing his first home match since it was announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
De Bruyne's brilliant free-kick gave City a lifeline in the first half after Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards netted for Palace in the opening 21 minutes.
Omar Marmoush equalised before the interval and De Bruyne set up Mateo Kovacic when the Croatian put City in front in the 47th minute.
Youngsters James McAtee and Nico O'Reilly scored to cap City's fightback as they climbed to fourth place in the Premier League in pursuit of a top five finish.
"I think it was important to score as quickly as possible and change the feeling of the game a bit," De Bruyne said.
"I didn't think we were playing that bad but the scoreline wasn't good at all. We went from there.
"I want to go away with a Champions League (place) for this team because they deserve it.
"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."
Ravaged by injuries over the last two years, De Bruyne is a shadow of the majestic force that helped City win six titles in the last seven seasons.
But if he can produce a few more of these masterclasses over City's last six league games, he should leave with his club able to compete in the Champions League next term.
Guardiola knows better than anyone how important De Bruyne has been during his reign.
"The performance of Kevin - as he has done for many, many years in many, many games - he played fantastic. He helped us to break this momentum that was not good," Guardiola said.
"The gratitude we have, I have, to him is huge. He's done incredible and I know that he can deliver.
"Today he was fouled but with the ball he was so clever and, with the goals and assists, he helped a lot to win that game.
"From 2-0 down it was not easy but we stuck with the plan. We now have six games left and we need points to qualify for the Champions League, so this has been massively important."
U.Hyeon--SG
