A goal and an assist and a captain’s display that wrenched the contest from Crystal Palace: here was an afternoon to revel in the sublime talent of Kevin De Bruyne.
At 33, he is in the autumn of one of the great careers, but on a sun-dappled east Manchester afternoon De Bruyne illustrated, yet again, his peerlessness. The truism that the best have a crucial extra moment to work with runs through De Bruyne’s decade in a Manchester City shirt, and was displayed in the goal crafted for Mateo Kovacic.
