Kevin De Bruyne admitted he is under pressure from Phil Foden to keep his place in the Man City team despite scoring his 100th goal for the club in Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The visitors were stunned in the early stages when Philippe Mateta shot Palace into the lead just two minutes after kickoff.
It didn’t take long for Man City to peg them back, as De Bruyne sent a superb strike flying past goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Guardiola’s men went ahead almost immediately after the interval when Rico Lewis scored his second goal of the season, the first of which came against the same opposition.
De Bruyne set up Erling Haaland for the third while the Belgian scored the fourth on their way to victory, although Odsonne Edouard did grab a late goal to make the scoreline a little more respectable.
“It was good,” he told TNT Sports. “It has been a very untypical season with the injuries and coming back. Sometimes I feel good, sometimes I feel a little bit off with my body. I have tried to prepare myself as best as possible. I try to do the job as good as possible and today I did well.”
De Bruyne came back into the starting lineup after being dropped for the midweek win over Aston Villa, in which Foden scored a hat-trick.
Asked if he is feeling the pressure to perform amid the 23-year-old form, De Bruyne said: “Yeah I do because these guys keep me on my toes. I don’t expect to just be given my place. If I don’t perform well, I won’t play. Phil Foden has been amazing this season so deserves it but it keeps me on my toes.”
De Bruyne thinks it is “possible” the two could play together centrally for Man City as they chase a fourth successive Premier League title.
“When I started at 16 or 17 nobody thought it was possible with David Silva,” he pointed out. “It will be a little bit vice versa but I don’t see why not. We have not done it that much.”
De Bruyne continued: “I just try to be more of an example with the way I am on the pitch. I won’t be the person to tell others how to live their lives but I try to show on the pitch. I have played with Phil for seven or eight years now so I don’t feel like he is a youngster anymore. He is an established superstar in our team. He is just amazing.”
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