De Bruyne delighted get back on the pitch

De Bruyne showed a glimpse of his top form when he returned to the starting lineup for Manchester City, in Carabao Cup action away at the King Power stadium, by scoring an outrageous opening goal. The Belgian scored just fifteen minutes into his full return to the side after seven weeks out with various knee injuries. After dominating the majority of proceedings, holders City finally squeezed through to the semi-finals, by virtue of a penalty shoot out.

Nevertheless, the Belgian was just happy to be back on the pitch again, after only playing 96 minutes of action throughout the opening three months of the campaign. He spoke to 'Sky Sports' in the after math of his side's cup triumph, saying: "I've been out so long, so to play 70 minutes is a really good sign for me personally. I feel a little bit stiff but I'm happy to contribute again."

The midfield maestro also took the opportunity to praise the efforts from the array of young stars that featured in the tie for Manchester City. In particular, second goalkeeper Aro Muric, who saved two penalties to help the side progress to the next round of the competition. Of the young goalkeeper, De Bruyne said: "He's got veins of ice and did what he had to do, so it's a beautiful moment for him."

He added: "It was a little bit difficult for us because we had a lot of players that don't play a lot but we played a good, open game and we're in the semi-final!"

 

December 18, 2018

City were also joined in the semi-finals by league one side Burton Albion, who pulled off a shock win away to Middlesbrough to continue their cup journey.

Those two sides must now wait for the outcomes of the matches in the other half of the draw; Arsenal v Tottenham and Chelsea v Bournemouth, to be played on Wednesday evening.