Brilliant De Bruyne puts Pep on Cloud Nine... but Mor

WE need to talk about Kevin De Bruyne — again — after the Manchester City ace continued his fantastic start to the season.

There are few players in the Premier League right now who can hold a torch to the brilliant Belgian.

And his sweet second-half strike put the icing on another fine all-round performance and claimed three vital points against his former club.

No wonder City boss Pep Guardiola reckons De Bruyne is one of the best footballers he has ever seen.

There was a touch of mastery in just about everything he did here at Stamford Bridge, unlike back in the days when he called this place home.

De Bruyne lasted two seasons at Chelsea before former manager Jose Mourinho let him join Wolfsburg.

To be fair to the Portuguese, there was no way the player was getting past Eden Hazard into Chelsea’s starting line-up back then.

But his time in Germany and subsequently at City have seen De Bruyne mature into a player every bit as talented as his Belgium team-mate. Yesterday one of them made a difference, and one didn’t.

City deserved their points, overwhelming the champions at times.

There was only one goal to show for their possession and dominance, thanks largely to fine work in Chelsea’s goal from another Belgian, Thibaut Courtois, and a fine goalline clearance from Antonio Rudiger to deny Gabriel Jesus.

Guardiola’s men deserve a pat on the back for sticking to their guns with Chelsea who looked leggy from their 2-1 midweek win at Atletico Madrid, switching to five at the back and very defensive throughout.

Not that you could really blame Chelsea boss Antonio Conte for that.

Guardiola’s men have been goal hungry in recent weeks, scoring 16 in their last three top-flight games.

Even without Sergio Aguero, who broke a rib in a car crash in Amsterdam in midweek, they still had several players who can score for fun.

City nearly took the lead through one of them – Jesus – when Courtois booted the ball against the Brazilian from close range.

The Chelsea goalkeeper didn’t half breathe a sigh of relief when it rebounded over his bar. David Silva’s well-caught effort just before the half-hour, as City prodded and probed, needed a decent save, and Fernandinho’s bullet header from De Bruyne’s cross required an even better one to keep it out.

Chelsea did occasionally test City’s resolve but Nicolas Otamendi’s solid header kept them out, as did keeper Ederson when Cesar Azpilicueta caught one from just inside the box.

Alvaro Morata (above) looked like he might trouble John Stones as the game wore on when he turned the City centre back both ways.

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