Pep Guardiola’s men have earned widespread plaudits for their breathtaking football this season and they have scored a hatful of goals to march to the top of the Premier League.
But pitted against the talented and dangerous Ukrainian champions, City had to work hard and be patient before De Bruyne’s superb 47th minute goal broke the deadlock.
And City sealed a deserved victory through Raheem Sterling in the 90th minute to go top of Group F.
“I definitely think it is not my best game, it is the way it goes,” De Bruyne admitted.
“It was hard graft tonight but this team can play. We were better in the second half, created more chances and in the end it was a deserved victory.
“It is better if we score earlier. We will score five, six goals or we can win 1-0, 2-0 too. It was another clean sheet.”
De Bruyne also had a message of support for striker Sergio Aguero who missed the chance to draw level with Eric Brook as City’s all-time record scorer when his second half penalty was saved by Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov.
“Sergio Aguero is our number one penalty taker. Even if he misses, we still have the confidence in him and he will get a few more penalties in his career,” De Bruyne added.
