Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
KEVASTATING
De Bruyne stuns Blues as Morata limps off
PEP GUARDIOLA hailed “outstanding” Kevin de Bruyne as the Belgian scored a cracker to fire Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League.
De Bruyne’s 20-yard rocket downed his old club as City dominated. The result was a double blow for Chelsea, who lost ground in the title race and saw striker Alvaro
positions and can assist short and long. After, without the ball, he’s the most humble, the most shy guy.
“He says, ‘If I have to run 100km for the team, I will do that’. It is not easy to find that with this type of talent.”
De Bruyne denied the victory was made all the more sweeter by the fact it came against his old club.
“No, that’s the past,” he said. “What happened, happened and I have no regrets. It made me stronger. I made a decision at the time, Chelsea made a profit on me.” He added: “We played a great game tactically, but it’s a nice win because it’s difficult to win here.”
Chelsea lost Spain striker Alvaro Morata to a hamstring injury late in the first half.
Boss Antonio Conte said: “I don’t think it’s a serious problem because he stopped before it had become a serious injury.
“He said to me, ‘Coach, I prefer to stop myself otherwise I risk a bad injury’. The doctor has to check it out, but I don’t think he’s available for the national team.”