Manchester City supporters are savouring every moment they have left to watch club legend Kevin De Bruyne strut his stuff in Sky Blue before he leaves the club at the end of the season.
The soon-to-be 34-year-old will bring the curtain down on a glittering 10-year career at the Etihad Stadium when his contract expires at the end of June, although there is a chance that he could compete at this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup before he departs.
On the domestic front, De Bruyne has just a handful of games remaining for Man City, who are bidding to finish in the top five of the Premier League to secure Champions League football for next season, as well as win the FA Cup.
Pep Guardiola‘s side will soon be gearing up for their third successive FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium where they will face Crystal Palace on May 17 after beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the semi-finals.
While academy graduate Nico O’Reilly has arguably been Man City’s standout performer in this season’s FA Cup, De Bruyne is someone who has excelled in England’s most prestigious cup competition over the years.
De Bruyne loves playing in the FA Cup!
Since joining Man City from Wolfsburg in 2015, De Bruyne has celebrated winning 19 trophies across seven different competitions, including two FA Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2023.
The Belgian playmaker was named Man of the Match after starring in Man City’s thumping 6-0 victory over Watford in the 2019 final – the joint-biggest win in FA Cup final history – while his 2023 success was part of the club’s historic treble-winning campaign.
De Bruyne has made a total 33 appearances in the FA Cup, scoring 10 goals and registering 18 assists, playing a direct role in more goals than any other player in the competition (from the first round onwards) since his arrival in England a decade ago.
His nearest challenger is Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min who in the same period has contributed to 26 goals (14 goals, 12 assists), while Phil Foden is third on the list with 21 goal contributions (12 goals, nine assists).
De Bruyne could have increased his impressive goal and assist tallies had he not missed seven FA Cup games through injury, while he has also watched on as an unused substitute on eight occasions over the years.
[embedded content]
Cheeky at Cardiff, wonderful versus Watford
In his first season as a Man City player in 2015-16 under former boss Manuel Pellegrini, De Bruyne played just once in the FA Cup, coming off the bench to score his first goal in the competition in a 3-0 away win over Norwich City in the third round, before missing the fourth and fifth rounds through injury.
De Bruyne then took part in five of City’s six FA Cup ties in the 2016-17 season when Guardiola’s side reached the semi-finals, although this is the only campaign in which the playmaker was unable to contribute with a single goal or assist.
Man City’s No.17 cheekily rolled a free kick under a jumping Cardiff City wall in a 2-0 fourth-round win in South Wales in 2017-18, but the Citizens were stunned by third-tier outfit Wigan Athletic (1-0) in the fifth round.
Both De Bruyne and Guardiola celebrated their first FA Cup triumph in 2018-19, though, with the Belgian chipping in with two goals and five assists across four matches, including one goal and one assist during a 35-minute cameo appearance off the bench in the aforementioned win over Watford in the final.
De Bruyne was either injured or benched for the first three rounds of the 2019-20 FA Cup, but he returned for the 2-0 quarter-final win at Newcastle United in which he netted a first-half penalty, before City suffered defeat to Arsenal by the same scoreline in the semi-finals.
The Belgian wore the captain’s armband as he teed up Bernardo Silva for his second goal in a 3-0 third-round win at home to Birmingham City in 2020-21, before missing the next two rounds due to injury, but he returned to score a late second in a 2-0 quarter-final win at Everton. City again suffered semi-final heartache, though, this time to De Bruyne’s former side Chelsea (1-0).
[embedded content]
Man City’s assist king continues to thrive in the FA Cup
In 2021-22, De Bruyne assisted three goals across two 4-1 victories over Swindon Town and Fulham in the third and fourth rounds respectively, before converting a penalty in City’s fifth-round win against Southampton (another 4-1 win). He was then left on the bench as the Citizens lost 3-2 to Liverpool in the semi-finals.
De Bruyne then played a key role in City’s triumphant 2022-23 FA Cup campaign, scoring a delightful long-range curler in a 3-0 fifth-round win at Bristol City before assisting two goals in a 6-0 thrashing of Burnley in the quarter-finals, and both of Ilkay Gundogan‘s iconic volleys in the first-ever all-Manchester derby FA Cup final (a 2-1 win for City over Manchester United).
Man City’s assist king set up another five goals in the 2023-24 FA Cup, including four in an action-packed 6-2 victory against Luton Town in the fifth round – De Bruyne assisted the first three of Erling Haaland‘s five goals scored at Kenilworth Road.
This season, De Bruyne has contributed to three goals (two goals, one assist) in as many FA Cup appearances, firstly netting the winning goal as a substitute in a 2-1 comeback victory over League One side Leyton Orient in the fourth round.
De Bruyne then assisted an equalising goal from O’Reilly before scoring City’s third as Guardiola’s men came from behind again to beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 at the Etihad in the fifth round.
After drawing a blank, albeit having played well, in City’s 2-1 quarter-final win at Bournemouth last month, De Bruyne watched on as an unused substitute as City beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the semi-finals, but he will be hoping to add to his tally of FA Cup goals and assists when the Citizens face Crystal Palace in the showpiece event.
