Devastating De Bruyne shines as City beat West Brom
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates with Raheem Sterling after scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Belgian Kevin De Bruyne delivered another virtuoso performance as Premier League leaders Manchester City beat bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Etihad on Wednesday to restore a 15-point lead at the top.
It could easily, as City manager Pep Guardiola noted, have ended with seven or eight goals for the home side who even without the injured Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus were close to unstoppable.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne in action with West Bromwich Albion's James McClean Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
"At times tonight I wanted to give my players a cuddle because I felt sorry for them," West Brom manager Alan Pardew told reporters.
Having watched his side struggle, like so many others this season, to cope with City's swift breaks and precision passing, Pardew had no doubt who was the central figure behind the torment his side suffered.
"De Bruyne is the key to it, because his passing and offensive play from deep is of such high quality, you don't quite know what to do with him," he said.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's David Silva shoots at goal Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
The Belgian's ability to find a player on the move with a perfectly-placed and weighted pass carved open West Brom's defence for the 19th-minute opener.
De Bruyne found Fernandinho, who had burst into the inside left channel and slid the ball past keeper Ben Foster.
Foster could have been, on another night, the hero for West Brom, and he produced four fine first-half saves to keep out powerful strikes from De Bruyne whose ability to find the target from distance is equal to his speed on the counter and accuracy with the ball at his feet.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Fernandinho scores their first goal REUTERS/Phil Noble
When De Bruyne did beat Foster he was foiled by the top of the crossbar but the Belgian got his reward after the break.
Bursting forward from inside his own half, De Bruyne kept his feet despite a lunging attempt to bring him down from James McClean and played a neat exchange of passes with Raheem Sterling before sweeping the ball home.
Sterling was the provider again for the third, slipping the ball through to Argentine Sergio Aguero who lifted his finish over the advancing Foster in the 89th minute.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Fernandinho celebrates with David Silva after scoring their first goal REUTERS/Phil Noble
"It was a nice performance, top performance, we deserved to win. Three more points," Guardiola said.
"All season Kevin de Bruyne has played an outstanding level. If one of the best players run and fight like Kevin does the rest follow him."
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Fernandinho celebrates with team mates after scoring their first goal REUTERS/Phil Noble
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Toby Davis and Ed Osmond)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 West Bromwich Albion's Allan Nyom in action with Manchester City's Raheem Sterling Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne hits the crossbar with a shot Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte in action with West Bromwich Albion’s Sam Field REUTERS/Phil Noble Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 West Bromwich Albion's James McClean in action with Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko REUTERS/Phil Noble Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 West Bromwich Albion's Salomon Rondon in action with Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte REUTERS/Phil Noble Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates with Raheem Sterling after scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Sergio Aguero in action with West Bromwich Albion's Gareth McAuley and Ben Foster Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne in action with West Bromwich Albion's James McClean Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Brahim Diaz in action with West Bromwich Albion's Matt Phillips Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 West Bromwich Albion's Matt Phillips is shown a yellow card by referee Bobby Madley Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Sergio Aguero scores their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 31, 2018 West Bromwich Albion’s Ahmed Hegazi reacts Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
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