To mark the first instalment of One Moment in Time, we rewind the clock back to May 2022 when a Kevin De Bruyne masterclass helped inspire City to a stunning – and crucial - 5-1 victory at Molineux.
The brilliant Belgian, who bade farewell to the Etihad after 10 glorious years in May, served up one of the finest displays of his stellar and storied City career.
In what was a quite mesmeric display of midfield majesty, De Bruyne claimed four memorable goals – along the way registering his first-ever hat-trick for City and the fourth quickest treble in Premier League history to boot, clocking in at just 17 minutes.
The win moved Pep Guardiola’s side to within touching distance of the 2021/22 title and also served to illustrate just why De Bruyne is revered as one of the finest players to have ever represented City.
There was so much to admire about KDB’s display that night – with his third goal arguably encompassing a quite brilliant all-round performance with De Bruyne driving towards the edge of the Wolves area before curling a magnificent left-footed effort into the bottom corner of the net.
De Bruyne’s subsequent celebration was equally memorable, KDB opting to emulate the famous meditation pose of Erling Haaland, with whom City had reached an agreement to sign from Borussia Dortmund earlier in the week ahead of the trip to Wolves.
For club photographer Tom Flathers, who was there at Molineux to capture all the drama as it unfolded that memorable May night, not least the superb celebration image that accompanies this article, it was a blue-chip evening to both remember and savour.
“This was when Kevin scored four goals in one game at Molineux in May 2022, which was just ridiculously good,” Tom recalls of what he says serves as one of his favourite-ever pictures of De Bruyne.
“Erling Haaland had just been confirmed having agreed to join City, so after Kevin scored his third goal, he did the iconic ‘Haaland’ celebration, which again is unusual for him to do with a lot of emotion.
“I also think the kit looks really good in this and Molineux is a little bit different as a ground, it’s great because of the fan positions.
“You can get a nice angle with the supporters and the players too.
“More than anything it was just an amazing game.
“For me, Kevin was at the absolute peak of his powers that night.”
As for De Bruyne himself, the Belgian was typically modest when reacting to a special night, insisting the focus was all about the team rather than the individual.
“I’ve been playing 13 years so a first Premier League hat-trick] is something nice. I had some good opportunities to score thanks to the team,” Kevin reflected.
“I thought we played a good game away so I’m very happy with the team. The win was the most important thing.”
City v spurs app coverage
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Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at around 11:15 (UK).
Steph Houghton and Michael Brown will be the guests on the latest Matchday Live show alongside presenter Cel Spellman, offering their expert insight before, during and after the action.
During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Andy Morrison while our text commentary continues.
Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.
We’ll have a quick-hit 2-minute highlights package available at 17:15 (UK), while you can sign-in to watch a free 8-minute edit at midnight. On CITY+ meanwhile, there’ll be our popular full-match replay as well as our new extended highlights offering which features the best 20 minutes of action from the game. Both are also available at midnight.
