The Englishman was deployed more centrally by manager Pep Guardiola and thrived in the role, adding control and composure to the midfield.
De Bruyne assisted the opener, heading towards Bernardo Silva to tap in, before the Belgian fired in our second from 15 yards.
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Jeremy Doku added a wonderful third after the interval to secure the points and help us claim victory after seven matches across all competitions without a win.
Despite no goal involvements, Grealish was heavily involved in City’s play, having 77 touches of the ball and boasting a 98% pass success rate, the highest on the pitch.
“Jack is so good at controlling the tempo of the game, at holding the ball,” said Player of the Match De Bruyne after the game.
“You can’t really get it off him, and then sliding through plays. That’s his quality.
“Maybe with the type of guys we have on the flanks, he’s very good at that. I think we needed a bit more control and he was able to do that with Bernardo, Gundo and myself in the middle, and Jeremy who is a different player and very electric.
“I think we performed well as a team but I think Jack did exceptional.”
The captain also spoke about the relief of the players at getting back to winning ways, touched on the importance of keeping a clean sheet and reserved some special words for the City fans after their standing ovation when he was substituted.
Watch Kevin’s entire interview via the video at the top of the page.
