The Belgian opened the scoring with a superb low strike into the bottom corner from 20 yards, before setting up John Stones to double the lead shortly before the interval.
De Bruyne doubled his tally ten minutes after the interval with a clinical finish, before Rob Holding pulled a goal back for the vicitors.
Erling Haaland secured the victory with his 49th goal of the season across all competitions, coolly slotting beyond Aaron Ramsdale.
De Bruyne was delighted with the team’s overall display under the floodlights at the Etihad Stadium.
“When they play man to man we just have to go a little bit longer because there’s no place for short passes. The first half we were really good,” he said.
“We could have scored more, but luckily the second goal wasn’t offside and it changed the game.
“In the second half it was probably about 50/50 and I think we didn’t give much away to them. They’re a class team and hard to play against. We had to be at our best today and we were.
“We set up a little differently. I had more freedom today to go where the space was, depending who was putting pressure from them.”
The win takes up two points behind table-toppers Arsenal, with Pep Guardiola‘s men having two games in hand on the Gunners.
Despite this, De Bruyne is not getting carried away and believes there is still plenty to play for going into the final stretch of the season.
CITY+ | SIGN UP TO ACCESS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
“It’s too long left. It’s so hard,” he said. A lot of things can happen. It’s still seven games, that’s a lot of points and we’re still behind them.
“I know this team and we will not give in until it’s mathematically done.
“Our schedule is hectic, there’s a lot of things going on and now we need to prepare for Sunday and Fulham.”
