Premier League 2017/18: Manchester City 7-2 Stoke City, 5 talking points

#2 The De Bruyne fairytale continues

De Bruyne produced a masterstroke in the 7-2 thrashing of Stoke City

In an exciting nine-goal thriller at the Etihad, Belgian attacker Kevin De Bruyne was the perfect gentleman while his teammates made it to the scoresheet. Of the six midfielders and forwards in the line-up, only De Bruyne failed to score as he sat behind pulling the strings in the midfield.

After inflicting a 1-0 defeat on Chelsea at the Bridge, the Belgian was at the height of his powers against Stoke, being the creative lynchpin behind City's famous win. He was a silent leader who orchestrated City's attacks and bagged two assists for himself.

Kevin De Bruyne's form:? Games: 7? Goals: 2? Assists: 6Baller. pic.twitter.com/4zHXNQMwBD

— Football__Tweet (@Football__Tweet) October 14, 2017

In so many ways, Kevin De Bruyne proved that he was the main man in City's line-up. His exquisite through-ball to Leroy Sane in the 62nd minute was an example of sheer brilliance. The midfielder has continued his red-hot form for the Citizens in the Premier League with another masterclass of a performance to his credit.

De Bruyne's two assists versus Stoke have placed him on a level with Leo Messi for most assists (68) since 2012-13.

With a passing accuracy of 88.5%, he worked relentlessly as City went two points clear of rivals Manchester United.Apparently, injured teammate caused quite a stir after tweeting his homage to the dynamic Belgian enforcer!

With that sparkling execution of a fluid performance, De Bruyne was undoubtedly the man-of-the-match after being substituted by Ilkay Gundogan.