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What often goes unsung is his goal-scoring prowess—though he has netted 95, the joint-third for his club in the premier league era after Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling. It’s an aspect of his game that Guardiola has asked him to focus more, not because he is incapable, but because he is often content being the provider than an executor, as though stifling his own goal-netting gifts.
Memorable finish
But against Arsenal, De Bruyne decided to be the destroyer himself, as he so often does against them, scoring two goals of outrageous finesse and beauty. The first one merits a standalone place in the album of City’s season-defining reels of the 2022-23 season. It’s his finish that would remain stamped in memory—the ball fizzing off the instep of his right-boot, the spin he imparted making the ball curving away and then into the lunging Arsenal goal-keeper Aaron Ramsdale from 25 yards out.
An emphatic opener! 👏@KevinDeBruyne puts us ahead at the Etihad 🌟 pic.twitter.com/JoNCfFXIJt
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 26, 2023
A freeze-frame of the exact moment he sweet-spots the ball is instructive of his balance and technique, the left-toe balancing the coiled-up frame, the right-foot raised knee-high in follow through, the arms swinging back in the ferocity of his shot, and the body and head in the direction of the ball. But once he was in control of the shot, once he manufactured time and space, you knew the inevitable outcome.
But it is the beginning that captures the drive and determination of de Bruyne. The moment John Stone swung a lofted cross from the deep, from the right side just outside the box, to Erling Haaland near the half-line, de Bruyne tore off. He is not the quickest, even when he was younger than 31, but he runs spiritedly and cleverly. It was like the start of a 100 meter-race. The gun is popped, and he burst through Thomas Partey and referee Michael Oliver, and then he drifted to the left, processing the best channel for Haaland, in the clutches of Rob Holding, to release him.
By the time the Norwegian flicked the ball to him, de Bruyne is ahead of Haaland, receives the ball, then accelerates, too fast for Partey and Co, then swerves to the right, further drifting away from the four chasers, two behind and two converging from the left, takes an intentionally heavy touch that takes the ball wider from Gabriel Magalhaes, before he turns his body the other way slightly and stings the shot.
The @Sure Move of the Match! 👊@ErlingHaaland 🔗 @KevinDeBruyne 🙌 pic.twitter.com/F2MMPAv7KO
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 27, 2023
The idea of Arsenal’s defenders was to make him take the ball wider so that he is compressed of space to shoot and he would eventually look for a passing outlet, but such is the vision of de Bruyne that he knew the precise moment to uncork the shot. He shrewdly gunned the near post, which surprised Ramsdale, who was anticipating the City talisman to aim for the far post. De Bruyne also targeted the bottom-corner, and not the top-corner, as Ramsdale would have to bring his six feet two inches frame down to parry his shot away, and hence more difficult.
From gathering the ball from De Bruyne to shooting for the goal, he made five touches, each perfect and how he wanted it to be. The first three were soft, anything heavier and the Arsenal shirts would have latched onto it. The fourth was intentionally heavier, anything less would have denied him the space to shoot. Watching the ball nestle into the nets, he spun towards the corner flag and spread his arms wide. At the touchline, Guardiola was leaping wildly, and he would offer his appreciation on the goal later.
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“Kevin is… always I push him and have a feeling he can do better,” he said, before drifting into tactical details. “In this shape (he can) move with more freedom, long balls, second balls with Erling up front, is so dangerous for the opponent.”
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A tactical tweak enabled this. Usually, Guardiola tunes up his team in a 4-3-3 formation in which one holding player sits at the base of the midfield, between two more advanced playmakers. Here, they were more of a 4-2-3-1, with Ilkay Gundogan sitting alongside Rodri. This was to repel the efficiency of Arsenal’s man-to-man pressing, and this in turn offered De Bruyne more freedom in advanced central areas. The first goal originated from the space left by Granit Xhaka, who had to tussle with the extra central midfielder in Gundogan. This was the eighth goal of the season, and he would add one more to cap off a title-defining night, one where De Bruyne the goal-king shone brighter than the assist-master.
