Yesterday, Manchester City fans welcomed back Kevin De Bruyne as he came off the bench against Huddersfield Town – and the star wasted little time doing what he does best.
City booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a thumping 5-0 win over the Championship side.
It was a comfortable day at the office for City, with Phil Foden the star of the show once again playing in a central role.
He grabbed two goals, with Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku also on target. Oscar Bobb also forced an own goal.
The moment of the match though was when Kevin De Bruyne came on, for the first time in five months.
De Bruyne would make an assist for Jeremy Doku and after the game, an incredible statistic emerged…
The incredible Kevin De Bruyne assist statistic, despite injury lay-off
Not long after coming on, De Bruyne laid on a beautiful ball for fellow substitute Doku to volley home at the back post, after he had overlapped Oscar Bobb.
It was a delightful clip to the back post, with Doku all on his own.
Arguably, few players in the City team would have seen Doku and executed the pass, but it was a fairly routine ball for De Bruyne. Pep Guardiola called the star ‘unique’ after the game, which is certainly true.
It was actually Bruyne’s second assist of the season, with the maestro getting one against Burnley in the first game before he had to go off injured.
His assist for Doku, according to Opta, was his 30th since the start of last season.
That means he has the most assists of any player in Europe’s big five leagues in all competitions since then, with Mo Salah next on the list with 24.
This is incredible to consider, when De Bruyne has just had a five-month spell on the sidelines.
KDB stat a reminder of his world-class ability
It is absolutely amazing to think De Bruyne has 30 assists in all competitions since the start of last season, and is at least six clear of any other player at the top of the assists chart, when he has missed so much football recently.
It just goes to show that he really is the assist king, and especially puts his contributions last term into perspective.
De Bruyne’s return for City is absolutely huge and very ominous for rival clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal.
You could see yesterday that he actually wasn’t all that rusty, and it is very encouraging to think where he could be in a few weeks’ time with more minutes under his belt.
Quite possibly, his return could lead to a fourth league title in a row, and who knows how many more trophies this season.
