Pep Guardiola’s side dominated possession at the Etihad Stadium and had 30 shots on goals to Spurs two, but were denied a winner after VAR adjudged Aymeric Laporte to have handled the ball in the build up to Gabriel Jesus’ late goal.
De Bruyne was at the heart of much of City’s best play, orchestrating things in midfield and laying on both Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero’s goals and says there were plenty of positives to take from the game.
“We totally dominated the game and should have scored more goals,” said the Belgian.
“The way we played was really well. The team will do great things this season.
“Everybody is proud with the way we performed - Spurs got two goals but they only had two chances so they were really clinical. We have to be proud because to play at this level against a team like Tottenham is really good for the rest of the season.
“It’s always more difficult in a big game but we almost totally dominated them. They had some of the ball but it was always their defenders that had the ball which wasn’t an issue for us.”
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For all City’s superiority, we were pegged back twice by Eric Lamela and Lucas Moura, who scored with his first touch, seconds after being introduced as a substitute.
Guardiola turned to his own bench as City looked for a winner and Jesus thought he’d got it when he fired home in the 91st minute, but Michael Oliver called play back and signalled the VAR decision.
Despite the disappointment, De Bruyne was philosophical with the outcome.
“It feels weird to have the last-minute goal disallowed but we just have to accept it,” he added.
“I’m old school - I love the flow of the game and the enthusiasm. But if we want to get the game better, I’m fine with it.
“I have no issue with the rule - the rule is the rule - but it should be looked at because that situation is crazy.”
