Jean-Philippe Mateta put the hosts ahead after three minutes, before De Bruyne‘s splendid curling effort nestled into the top corner to draw City level before the interval.
Rico Lewis fired us ahead three minutes after the break, before De Bruyne squared for Erling Haaland to make it 3-1.
With 20 minutes left to play, De Bruyne slammed in his second of the afternoon and 100th in a City shirt from 18 yards, connecting sweetly with Rodrigo‘s expert lay-off.
The performance comes just days after Phil Foden‘s hat-trick in the victory over Aston Villa and further impressive showings from Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.
“It was good. It’s a very untypical season after being out for six months then coming back, sometimes, I feel good and sometimes I need a bit of time for my body,” said De Bruyne.
“I’ve tried to prepare myself as best as possible. It’s something that’s never happened to me before in my life. I just try to do the job as good as possible. Today it went really well.
“Yeah I do [feel pressure] because these guys keep me on my toes. I don’t expect to just be given my place. Sometimes it’s hard and if I don’t perform well then I won’t play.
“Phil [Foden] has been amazing this season so he deserves it, it keeps me on my toes to give me that little push. It’s possible [to play together in midfield with Foden]. When I started with David Silva, nobody thought it would be possible but we managed it in a way.
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“David was the older player and I was younger and the runner, now it’s going to be a bit vice-versa. I don’t see why not. I don’t think we’ve done it that much. If I can do it with Julian [Alvarez], who is more of a striker, then I can also do it with Phil.
“I just try to be more of an example with the way I am on the pitch. I’m not the person who will tell them how to live their life as that is a personal thing. I try to give my best from day one.
“I’ve been with Phil for about seven years now so I don’t feel he’s a youngster anymore. He’s an established superstar in our team, he’s been here that long. He’s just amazing.”
The Belgian is relishing the remainder of the title race after the three points put Pep Guardiola‘s men level on points with Liverpool, who play on Sunday.
“The only thing we can do is play as good as possible and get as many points as we can,” he said.
“Now we can watch the games and see how they do. We have another game on Tuesday. We need to have a little rest and then get ready for that one.
“I’m not bored of winning the league, if we were bored, we wouldn’t push like today. We’ll see.”
