Kevin De Bruyne had one of his best games for a long time as Manchester City came from behind to beat Leicester City, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
Jamie Vardy s 17th Premier League goal of the season put the Foxes ahead at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
But ex-Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez s deflected shot and Ilkay Gundogan s penalty turned the game around before the break and Gabriel Jesus tapped home at the back post to seal the points.
De Bruyne set up Jesus for that second-half clincher and Guardiola believes the Belgium international s performance was even better than his star showing against Arsenal last time out.
Kevin De Bruyne is a fighter and he helps us keep up the intensity when he s playing further up he helps the press a lot, Guardiola told BBC Sport. That was the best he has played in a long time.
We created a lot and played incredibly well with the ball. It s impossible to do anything to stop goals like that they are so good. Guys like [Youri] Tielemans, they are so good at passing.
But we were incredibly aggressive up front to stop them playing and we did well playing simple one-two touch and then pass.
I like to watch my team play well so of course, it s better when they win. We reviewed the last games against Arsenal and Oxford [United in the EFL Cup] and we struggled a little bit so today was a good example about how we can play.
Always a special game but very happy to score, win keep dreaming
— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22)
Leicester, second in the table, are still a point ahead of City but manager Brendan Rodgers accepts the match was a learning experience for the Foxes.
I thought they were very, very good and the big teams can perform at that level, Rodgers told Sky Sports.
We were disappointed first half, but second half we were a bit better, we had a bit more courage to get on the ball and play.
Tonight is a good lesson for us of the work we still need to do to get to the level City are at.
We took the lead when we weren t playing that well. Jamie was outstanding as was Kasper [Schmeichel] they showed their level in a big game tonight.
We always knew it would be difficult coming here, with the level they re at. We kept going and fighting but it wasn t the best of ourselves. City were outstanding.
Evenings like this are humbling and good for you, because our young squad can learn from it.
