The Belgian’s close-range strike from a Raheem Sterling rebound capped off a dominant first half performance in which further goals from Ilkay Gündogan and Phil Foden saw us go in three goals to the good at the break.
And while he was not surprised by the performance, De Bruyne feels the ruthless nature of the display will make other teams stand up and take notice.
“The difference today is when we had the chances we took them,” he reflected after the victory at Stamford Bridge.
“I think the years we were champion we were winning these big games.
“Last year and this season we have played some good games but not won them so I think today we showed we can win the big games.
“We’re fighting an uphill battle but we’re coming closer and that’s the only thing we can do right now.”
The devastating blend of high pressing, counter attacking play which was on show in our third consecutive Premier League win has become a mainstay of Pep Guardiola’s men in recent years.
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But while De Bruyne insists this season has given rise to a new look Manchester City, he certainly agrees that they are finding their feet.
He said: “We have different players so we play different this year, we’re adjusting to the personnel we have.
“But the team is finding more of their rhythm over the last month so I think we’re playing better.”
With Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Agüero both still on the road to recovery, De Bruyne was used in an unconventional false nine role against Chelsea.
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But while it may have taken a few minutes for him to adjust to his new position, he feels that it certainly ended up paying dividends.
“(It was) a little bizarre in the beginning,” the midfielder admitted.
“I’ve done it a couple of times in my career but the coach asked me to do this job so I tried to do it the best as possible and it’s good that we won it this way.”
