I mean, it was a ludicrous moment.
Manchester City took the pain of exiting the Champions League to Liverpool out on Tottenham on Saturday night as they won 3-1 to edge even closer to the Premier League title.
Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling all scored for Pep Guardiola’s side, with Christian Eriksen’s strike not enough to spark a rival from the hosts.
City looked to have their groove back. Sterling was a constant menace (he really could have had four goals had he not forgot his shooting boots), David Silva glided majestically in midfield and Kevin De Bruyne was back to his logic-defying best.
The Belgian was the best player in the Premier League in the first half of the season but has recently been eclipsed by the goalscoring exploits of Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane.
But clearly, De Bruyne was fired up after bagging his PFA Player of the Year nomination on Saturday. The 26-year-old had a spring in his step and even produced quite possibly the most ridiculous pass you’ll see this season.
No, that’s not hyperbole. If you want to watch De Bruyne’s magic, you can head here, but we’re going to break it down using screenshots.
With the ball dropping out of the stratosphere and with Eric Dier’s hands all over him, De Bruyne steadied himself.
Spotting Sterling’s darting run through the middle and knowing that the only Spurs player deeper than Dier was Davinson Sanchez, De Bruyne went for it.
Holding off Dier, De Bruyne let the ball drop onto his foot before executing a perfectly-judged first-time volley pass to the onrushing Sterling.
The flight on the ball was perfect, floating over Sanchez’s head and allowing the City winger to latch on without breaking his stride. From there, Sterling edged Sanchez for pace before blasting wide. Had he scored, though, De Bruyne’s pass would have surely gone down as the assist of the season.
De Bruyne is clearly some sort of freak. That kind of pass, with the ball dropping from that height, and with Dier all over him, shouldn’t have happened. Most players, even those of supreme technical abilities, would have been happy to control that ball and pick a pass. De Bruyne? Nah, he opted for pulling off the most elaborate trick imaginable.
But it did. That’s why we savour watching footballers like De Bruyne. They challenge our perceptions of just how good top-level footballers are. The Belgian just happens to be among the very best.
