Kevin de Bruyne says he was only suffering from cramp at the end of Manchester City's Premier League win over Leicester on Saturday.
De Bruyne put in another Man of the Match display as City recorded an important 3-1 win over 2nd placed Leicester, with the Belgian causing the Foxes plenty of problems before his good work assisted Gabriel Jesus to score his side's third goal.
However, in second half injury time, De Bruyne pulled up after releasing a through ball and immediately sat on the grass. He was replaced by the returning Sergio Aguero, and hobbled off the pitch with two medical staff assisting him.
Luckily for City, though, De Bruyne quickly moved to dispel any suggestions of injury as he told Sky Sports after the game how he was simply suffering from cramp.
He said: "It was just cramp. It was a hard game, very open, two teams who went all the way. In the end my body said ‘just take a rest.’ The grass was nice and soft."
Assessing the game, De Bruyne credited City's pressing to restrict Leicester's threat on the counter, as well as the contribution of goalscorer Riyad Mahrez for canceling out Jamie Vardy's opener.
"I think defensively we were good - there was a lot of pressure on the ball - we didn’t let Leicester play at all," he explained.
"They lost a lot of balls, especially in the first half. Obviously they gone 1-0 ahead but that was the only chance they had in the game. Afterwards we had a couple of good chances and then Riyad changed the game for us so that was really important. Also to score the 2-1 before half time was an important moment in the game."
De Bruyne also expanded on his defensive duties against Leicester, which often saw him acting as a second striker when City were out of possession.
He added: "That’s just defensively [playing up front], it’s the way we have defended all season.
"Sometimes I am more in the middle where Bernardo played, and sometimes I am more up top, maybe the manager wanted to bring my energy a little bit more in the front. That’s what I did and I thought the partnership with Gabby defensively did really well."
