Manchester City midfield architect Kevin De Bruyne has once again been strutting his stuff on the international stage with Belgium this evening.
The attacking-midfielder, who netted City's second equalsier in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, was right in the thick of the action during the first half as Belgium locked horns with France in their UEFA Nations League semi-final in Turin.
The City star bagged two assists in the space of just three minutes to help Roberto Martinez's side lead the 2018 FIFA World Cup winners by two goals to nil at half time.
For Belgium's opener, De Bruyne moved the ball out to the left flank for Yannick Carrasco to weave his magic, cut inside and then fire a low, right-footed effort past Hugo Lloris at his near-post. It was a smart finish from the winger and one that wrong-footed France goalkeeper Lloris, who was ready to dive to his left, anticipating that the ball would go across his body.
Just minutes after the restart, De Bruyne was at it again, this time playing a wonderfully weighted pass for Romelu Lukaku to dummy, spin in behind the French defence and then fire an unstoppable shot past Lloris at his near-post, with the Tottenham Hotspur man seemingly expecting Lukaku to cut it back for the waiting Eden Hazard in the centre.
It was, as ever, a slick pass from De Bruyne and one that doubled his tally of assists just minutes after the first.
Unsurprisingly, the watching City faithful on TV soon took to social media to hail their hero, waxing lyrical about his performance, with many of them again describing him as the very best midfielder around.
Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what some City fans have had to say.
As you can see from the messages displayed above, the love from the City fans towards De Bruyne just continues to grow stronger and stronger, even when he is delivering the goods for his country and not his club.
He was a thorn in France's side during the first half and put Belgium in a commanding position at the break, in their ambitions to reach their very first Nations League final.
At the time of writing, the scoreline was 2-2 after goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe saw France mount a second half comeback.
Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
.png?w=600)
