While Erling Haaland was the main topic of discussion after his hat-trick in Manchester City’s 4-1 victory against Ipswich Town on Saturday, several of the hosts’ other players also impressed.
Haaland praised Savinho and claimed that he has been “amazing” for City so far.
Savinho lauded Rico Lewis after his brilliant display against Kieran McKenna’s side as well.
Pep Guardiola’s side sent a statement to the rest of the Premier League that this season, they are ready to start with a bang.
Usually, in the first few months of every season, City tend to start slowly before kicking into gear during the business end of the campaign.
But scoring six and conceding one in their first two games, the Premier League winners look like they mean business from the very get-go.
Micah Richards makes interesting Kevin De Bruyne claim after Man City vs Ipswich Town
The Sky Blues looked at their domineering best against the newly-promoted side — with 76% of the possession, 15 shots and 92% pass accuracy.
Manchester City were clinical as well, scoring four goals from the five shots on targets they took.
Kevin De Bruyne looked like a man on a mission on the day as well.
So much so that Micah Richards felt that De Bruyne and not hat-trick hero Haaland was Manchester City’s standout performer against Ipswich on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Richards praised the £54.5 million man: “[Kevin] De Bruyne has been playing outstandingly well and he’s sort of going underneath the radar. He was probably City’s best player yesterday.”
An argument can be made that De Bruyne was City’s best player
As devastatingly brilliant as Haaland was against Ipswich, a case can be made that De Bruyne was even superior to him on Saturday.
The Belgian stood out as both a left-sided, wide, deep-lying playmaker in the first half and as a right-sided attacking midfielder in the second; setting up the Norwegian’s second goal while scoring one himself.
The 33-year-old’s tremendous range of passing was on full display as he found the likes of Haaland, Savinho and Doku in danger areas time and again.
De Bruyne exhibited his versatility and class as he well and truly ran the show, creating chances, picking out his teammates and making it virtually impossible for Ipswich to pick him up.