MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne’s Manchester Metropolis return was lower quick Thursday when the Napoli midfielder was substituted after solely 26 minutes following a pink card for teammate Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
De Bruyne was sacrificed as coach Antonio Conte reorganized his crew after taking place to 10 males.
Manchester Metropolis went on to assert a 2-0 win.
“I used to be very sorry I needed to make that substitution, I additionally knew by taking him off we had been going to overlook a number of the issues he may give us,” stated Conte.
“However I do not actually see that I had every other choice. He understood why I needed to make that call.”
The Metropolis nice was making his return to the Etihad Stadium after leaving the membership on the finish of final season as a free agent. He was given a hero’s welcome by Metropolis followers after which given an ovation as he left the sector.
Di Lorenzo was despatched off within the twenty first minute following a VAR evaluation for bringing down Erling Haaland simply outdoors the field.
De Bruyne’s quantity was raised 5 minutes later to get replaced by Mathias Olivera.
In a 10-year spell at Metropolis, De Bruyne helped the membership win 16 main trophies together with six Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Metropolis stated in Might that it could erect a statue in his honor outdoors the stadium to mark his standing as one in every of its biggest gamers. The membership additionally put in a mosaic of De Bruyne at its academy and named a highway on its campus after him.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
