Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne scored a clever free kick and played a part in the other three goals as Manchester City beat Bournemouth 4-0 with another scintillating attacking display, maintaining its 100 percent start to the English Premier League on Saturday.
City manager Pep Guardiola labeled De Bruyne as one of the best players he has managed after seeing the Belgium midfielder inspire the team to a fifth straight league win and a club-record eighth victory to open the season.
“When we talk about [Lionel] Messi, maybe he can sit alone in the table, with no one else allowed,” said Guardiola, a former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach. “But in the table beside, Kevin can sit there.”
The creative force behind City’s 2-1 win at Manchester United last weekend, De Bruyne ran the game at Etihad Stadium, too, opening the scoring by shooting a free kick underneath a jumping wall in the 15th minute.
But possibly his moment of the match came in the 66th when he found space to thread a perfect angled through-ball to Ilkay Gundogan, who ran into the area to meet the pass with a first-time low finish that outfoxed goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
No wonder De Bruyne was afforded a standing ovation by City fans when he was substituted late on.
City has 15 goals in five league games so far, and started a second successive league campaign with five wins in a row. This was also the first clean sheet in the league under Guardiola. AP
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