Manuel Pellegrini’s side suffered their second 2-1 defeat in a week, with De Bruyne’s smart first-half effort only a consolation after early goals from Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho.
Coming after the Champions League loss against Juventus the resulted rounded off a tough week for City but there were positives, with De Bruyne outstanding and only stout defending from the visitors denying the league leaders.
De Bruyne said: “We didn’t start well, conceding two goals with the two chances they fashioned. After that we created lots of chances, and 2-1 was a good place to be at half-time, but in the second half our final ball wasn’t good enough.
“We knew they would have 10 men behind the ball and we would have to be patient, but unfortunately we couldn’t score the second one.
“At half-time we were still confident we could change the game and we tried to put pressure on them. We tried everything, but the final pass wasn’t that good.
“It was a shame to lose three points and we wanted to win after the defeat to Juventus. I don’t think we played badly but we have to move on.”
