Kevin De Bruyne fires Manchester City 13 points clear of toothless Chelsea

It is fair to say that Kevin De Bruyne has history with Chelsea. And not only because of his frustrating spell at the club earlier in his career. The Manchester City midfielder was wounded on every level by them in last season’s Champions League final – roughed up by Antonio Rüdiger, his game ended early with a fractured eye socket; condemned, as well, to a runners-up medal.

This was a measure of revenge. It had been a meandering meeting of first versus second in the Premier League, marked mainly by what did not happen. Romelu Lukaku did not execute a straightforward pass which could have set up Hakim Ziyech and the Chelsea striker did not beat Ederson when though on goal. For City, Jack Grealish did not finish when one-on-one with Kepa Arrizabalaga.