Kevin De Bruyne’s two goals on Saturday may have grabbed the headlines but the Belgian’s assist for Erling Haaland could prove just as important in the context of City’s season.
De Bruyne‘s two beautiful strikes in the 4-2 win over Crystal Palace took him to 100 goals for City, becoming just the 18th man to reach that landmark.
He also assisted Haaland for City’s third of the afternoon, turning the ball into the middle for the Norwegian to finish expertly.
That was the 17th time he has set up our No.9 since Haaland’s arrival at City in the summer of 2022.
It is by far the most lucrative partnership in the Premier League over that time, with Liverpool’s Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez next on 10.
The below graphic shows the intricate move that culminated in Haaland’s finish on Saturday.
De Bruyne missed five months of the season before returning in January, and has now contributed to 14 goals in 2024.
That’s the third most in the Premier League in this calendar year.
His latest contribution came in a brilliant display at Palace, even despite going a goal down just three minutes in.
City have now won 24 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, only Liverpool (26) have recovered more.
City had 18 shots in total, amassing an xG of 1.91 compared to seven attempts to an xG of 1.08 for the hosts.
We enjoyed 75% of the ball, completing a whopping 772 passes with 575 of those coming in the opposition half.
ROVING RICO
Rico Lewis has now scored two Premier League goals. It just so happens that both of them have come against Crystal Palace.
He is just the second teenager to score home and away against a specific opponent in a Premier League season for City after Kelechi Iheanacho against Swansea in 2015/16.
While goals will be a very welcome addition to his portfolio, Lewis is already contributing so much to this City team.
Starting at right-back and stepping into midfield, Lewis was everywhere.
He won more duels (five) than anyone else in a City shirt and had 75 touches in total in the game.
After impressing in that role in the last two games, the 19-year-old will be hoping to string together more starts.
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS SO FAR THIS SEASON
Erling Haaland leads the race for the Premier League Golden Boot with 19. He’s one ahead of Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins while there are three players on 16.
Julian Alvarez is our leading assists contributor in the league, with eight. He’s two behind Pascal Gross, Kieran Trippier and Watkins.
Rodrigo has played 2,962 passes in the league, which makes him the division’s outstanding man in this metric.
Our 71 goals is the second most, with only Arsenal on 75 ahead of us.
In total, we have passed the ball 21,269 times in the Premier League this season, which is comfortably more than anyone else.
We have taken 559 shots, which is second only to Liverpool on 601.
