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#3 Kevin de Bruyne – the quiet magician
Sterling may have opened the scoring with his 13th goal in the Premier League and 17th in all competitions, but it came from Kevin de Bruyne’s incision. The Belgian is favourite to win Player of the Year at the end of the season and for good reason; he and Ederson are the only two to play every minute in the Premier League because they hold the keys to Guardiola’s philosophy.
De Bruyne controlled the game, picked so many little passes that allowed City to breach Newcastle’s low block, almost rendering it pointless. City have played in the same way all season, no matter the opponent, location or condition because of De Bruyne’s ability.
He dropped deep and picked spaces up, then pushed forward to create them himself. It was all so effortless and no Newcastle player could get anywhere near him. City missed a lot of chances and should have put the game to bed and quite a few were created by him; Newcastle couldn’t handle the one-twos in the first half, and De Bruyne crashed the post from distance in the second half.
