Kevin De Bruyne Stars as Manchester City Put Miserable Week Behind Them

After the disappointing week Manchester City had endured, they needed inspiration from somewhere, and Kevin De Bruyne, a player the club invested heavily in to provide them with magic going forward, delivered on Saturday.

The Belgian scored one, assisted one and had a hand in the other as City beat Southampton 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium to return to the top of the Premier League table. It was a performance high on quality from the former Wolfsburg man, whose standards had dipped in the weeks leading up to the game.

After a blistering start to life at City, he somewhat underwhelmed in recent matches, failing to produce a goal or an assist in his last three games.

That barren run was brought to an end against Southampton. 

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He opened the scoring early on with a tap-in. Raheem Sterling did most of the work, dispossessing Maya Yoshida, advancing into the box at pace and finding a right-footed ball across goal that De Bruyne buried. He couldn’t miss, and any nerves were instantly settled.

His corner from the right led to City’s second, and in the second half, after a Saints fightback had been weathered, his ball to the back post allowed Aleksandar Kolarov to smash home. De Bruyne’s ability to produce key moments in the final third had been emphatically reaffirmed. He has seven goals and eight assists in his 17 games for City.

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You voted @DeBruyneKev as today's Man of the Match! Thank you for taking part. #cityvsaints #mcfc pic.twitter.com/NpPWieI19k

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) November 28, 2015"

And it should be an even more impressive array of vital statistics. His best pass of the game put Wilfried Bony in late on, but the Ivorian, returning after a hamstring injury had kept him for over three weeks, miscued his shot badly. By then, though, De Bruyne had won his side the points with his brilliance.

And how City needed them. A 0-0 draw with bottom-side Aston Villa prior to the international break halted momentum, but the consecutive defeats to Liverpool and Juventus that followed looked capable derailing their season.

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STATS: #cityvsaints in numbers... #mcfc pic.twitter.com/QdfG2afJlq

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) November 28, 2015"

“It was a very important reaction,” said Manuel Pellegrini afterward. “It was not an easy week. Talking about the Premier League, we just won one point from six, so it was very important to win against an unbeaten team away.”

And it was Pellegrini’s summer signings who provided the impetus for the result, with De Bruyne ably assisted by Sterling, who tormented Yoshida. Fabian Delph brought drive, energy and his first goal for the club on his first start.

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He’s become a firm favourite with the fans already, and the calls for him to be given a start had been growing after some impressive cameos. He showing already he’s up to being a City player despite many questioning the wisdom of his move from Villa in the summer.

The one sour note was the injury to Sergio Aguero, which saw him limp off after 64 minutes having taken a blow to the ankle. It isn’t serious, according to Pellegrini, but it was an unwelcome sight. The City fans, understandably, want to see their star man fully fit.

“I spoke with Sergio before the game, and he was not going to play more than 60 minutes,” Pellegrini said. “He received a kick in his heel, but it was nothing important.”

City’s season stalled temporarily with two defeats in quick succession, but they are back on top of the Premier League table, are the only English side through to the Champions League last 16 and have a League Cup quarter-final at home to Hull City to look forward to on Tuesday.

Given the injuries they’ve suffered, they perhaps deserve more credit.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.