MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne's Manchester City return was cut short Thursday when the Napoli midfielder was substituted after only 26 minutes following a red card for teammate Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
De Bruyne was sacrificed as coach Antonio Conte reorganized his team after going down to 10 men. City went on to win 2-0 with Erling Haaland becoming the fastest player to score 50 Champions League goals.
The City great was making his return to the Etihad Stadium after leaving the club at the end of last season as a free agent. He was given a hero's welcome by City fans and then given an ovation as he left the field.
Di Lorenzo was sent off in the 21st minute following a VAR review for bringing down Erling Haaland just outside the box.
De Bruyne's number was raised five minutes later to be replaced by Mathias Olivera.
In a 10-year spell at City, De Bruyne helped the club win 16 major trophies including six Premier League titles and the Champions League.
City said in May that it would erect a statue in his honor outside the stadium to mark his status as one of its greatest players. The club also installed a mosaic of De Bruyne at its academy and named a road on its campus after him.
De Bruyne returned to the field at the end of the match to do a lap of honor with his former City teammates and was serenaded again by fans.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Napoli's Kevin De Bruyne, centre, and Manchester City's Abdukodir Khusanov, right, challenge for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Napoli at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Napoli's Kevin De Bruyne, centre, shake hands with Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte during a substitution at the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Napoli at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Napoli's Kevin De Bruyne applauds as he leaves the pitch during a substitution at the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Napoli at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year's Day.
Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.
Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.
Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.
“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.
Dykstra's gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.
Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.
In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.
In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.
That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra's lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.
And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.
Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.
“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.
FILE - Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra sits during his sentencing for grand theft auto in Los Angeles, on Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
