De Bruyne stars as City ease to victory

Football Soccer Britain – Manchester City v AFC Bournemouth – Premier League – Etihad Stadium – 17/9 …

City were majestic in the latest demonstration that, yes, Pep Guardiola’s style of play can work in England.

Bournemouth could not stem the flow, however, and after De Bruyne led another raid and released Sterling, the England forward unselfishly teed up a second goal for Iheanacho.

Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan were on target as City extended their 100 per cent start to the season with a fifth straight win that sees them top the standings by five points.

The idea that he is a “fraud” is surely only peddled by the jilted, but the Catalan has done enough in less than three months at City to show that his feats in the game to date are simply not down to luck.

There’s also intelligence behind the excellence.

A quick break nearly led to another straight away as De Bruyne fed Nolito but the Spaniard shot straight at Boruc.

The man who Jose Mourinho allowed to leave Chelsea has gone on to establish himself as one of the best players in Europe at Wolfsburg and now City.

That thought will keep many a Premier League manager awake at night over the coming weeks, months and years.

When then asked about how De Bruyne ranked among the great players he has managed, ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola said: “He’s one of them. Kevin is there with the rest”.

He has been the pick of Guardiola’s side in these early stages of the season as City have set a new club record of eight straight wins at the start of a campaign.

Sanchez had tapped in the first goal in the 17th minute, after a shot by walcott was parried by Jakupovic.

“We are happy when we win a game, but we need to focus on wining the next game”.

Arsenal moved into third place with a 4-1 win at Hull, who saw makeshift defender Jake Livermore sent off at the end of the first half.

The Foxes took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Algeria frontman Slimani, signed from Sporting Lisbon, headed in a free-kick.

And nine minutes later the game was as good as over as City doubled their advantage with a superb second goal on the break.

Gareth Barry scored on his 600th top-flight appearance to spark Everton’s comeback after goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg’s own goal put Middlesbrough ahead.

Dimitri Payet mounted something of a fightback for West Ham, crossing for Michail Antonio to score and winning a penalty which Manuel Lanzini converted, but once again Slaven Bilic’s side came up short as West Brom held on.

Bournemouth are the best team Manchester City have played this season, Pep Guardiola said after his side ran out 4-0 winners on Saturday.