Kevin De Bruyne starred for Manchester City as they came back from behind to beat AFC Bournemouth 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
After Evanilson opened the scoring, De Bruyne helped set Erling Haaland’s equaliser up by providing the pre-assist by finding Nico O’Reilly in acres of space with a smartly disguised pass.
As Omar Marmoush scored the winner and grabbed the headlines, the Manchester City captain was arguably his side’s standout player on Sunday.
Kevin De Bruyne ran proceedings, especially when tasked to play in a deeper midfield role after initially starting as a left-sided attacking midfielder. De Bruyne could sign a new contract at City and he expressed his willingness to stay by producing a masterclass.
Manchester City fans all sang De Bruyne’s praises, especially about his tireless work rate after they beat Bournemouth in their latest outing.
Man City fans hail Kevin De Bruyne’s work rate vs Bournemouth
One Manchester City fan lauded De Bruyne’s work ethic against Bournemouth by simply writing: “The way KDB was sprinting off the ball today was incredible. You can see how much he wants to fight for the badge. What a player, what an honour. We will be forever indebted.”
A second City supporter also raved about the Belgian’s pressing and all-round display against the Cherries: “Great to see that performance from De Bruyne. Even though he’s physically not there anymore and a bit rusty, he gave us a lot more composure and quality on the ball.”
A third Manchester City fan highlighted how De Bruyne tends to boss proceedings in the FA Cup, as he did against Bournemouth: “This really is De Bruyne’s competition. Another excellent performance today, 2nd half especially.”
A fourth City fan added: “Seems to orchestrate and organise the attacks in a way no-one else does. Also ran his backside off.”
A fifth supporter agreed: “This KDB everywhere session today…they said we can’t play 90 minutes.”
Finally, a sixth Manchester City fan simply lauded De Bruyne’s display against Bournemouth by writing: “Kevin De Bruyne sensational man. Wow. What a performance so far.”
Kevin De Bruyne stats vs Bournemouth
The 33-year-old has had a difficult season at the Etihad Stadium.
But the six-time Premier League winner is a legend of the game for a reason, with even Bruno Fernandes singing De Bruyne’s praises and both in and out of possession against Andoni Iraola’s side, he ran back the clock.
De Bruyne was a joy to watch against Bournemouth and the statistics prove that to have been the case.
| KEVIN DE BRUYNE STATS VS BOURNEMOUTH | |
| CHANCES CREATED | 2 |
| PASSES INTO THE FINAL THIRD | 2 |
| DEFENSIVE ACTIONS | 8 |
| DUELS WON | 7/9 |
The midfield maestro created two chances and played the same number of passes in the final third as well but what stood out are his eight defensive actions and seven out of nine duels won, as he was simply relentless defensively and played his heart out once again.
