De Bruyne fastest to 50 Premier League assists

It took Manchester City just 15 minutes to claim a new piece of Premier League history on Sunday thanks to Kevin de Bruyne's assist.

Published : Aug 25, 2019 20:03 IST

Manchester City creator Kevin de Bruyne has reached 50 assists in 123 Premier League appearances.
Manchester City creator Kevin de Bruyne has reached 50 assists in 123 Premier League appearances.
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Manchester City creator Kevin de Bruyne has reached 50 assists in 123 Premier League appearances.

Kevin de Bruyne became the fastest player to 50 Premier League assists as Sergio Aguero struck for Manchester City against Bournemouth on Sunday. De Bruyne was making his 123rd appearance in the competition as he teed up Aguero to break the deadlock on the 15-minute mark.

The unwitting mis-kick was not the Belgian's finest assist but it was enough for him to enter the record books due to the speed of his achievement. The previous benchmark for a half-century of Premier League assists had been set by Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, who reached that tally in 141 matches.

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Eric Cantona (143 appearances) drops to third on the list, with Dennis Bergkamp (146) fourth and Cesc Fabregas (165) fifth. De Bruyne missed much of last season with injury as City won a second consecutive title, but this was his fourth assist of the new campaign already.

The former Chelsea man set up Raheem Sterling's first strike in the win over West Ham on the opening day and then created both goals in last week's 2-2 draw against Tottenham.

- City's pass master: De Bruyne's top five Premier League assists -

Over the years De Bruyne has earned a reputation for the artistry and incisiveness with which his passes unpick opponents. We have selected five of his best.

Manchester City 2-0 Watford - December 14, 2016

City supporters have become accustomed to seeing De Bruyne surrounded by opponents and when Watford visited the Etihad Stadium on this occasion, the Belgian found himself confronted by a line of Hornets defenders as he sauntered into the box.

Utterly undaunted, he floated the ball over the heads of seven opponents and somehow picked out Pablo Zabaleta, who half-volleyed home with aplomb.

Manchester City 7-2 Stoke City - October 14, 2017

The supreme confidence De Bruyne has in his own passing ability was there for all to see during City's destruction of Stoke at the Etihad in 2017-18.

De Bruyne rightly backed Leroy Sane's ability to out-pace Geoff Cameron and rolled a 30-yard pass along the turf, right into the Germany international's path.

Newcastle United 0-1 Manchester City - December 27, 2017

There are few sights in football more pleasing than a weighted pass being struck first time into the net, and few players are more likely to deliver it than De Bruyne.

After 31 minutes at St James' Park, De Bruyne nonchalantly dinked a looping ball forwards and Raheem Sterling made a dart for the six-yard box, where he beat Rob Elliot with a sliding volley.

 

Southampton 0-1 Manchester City - May 13, 2018

City was on course for a disappointing goalless draw at Southampton in the final game of 2017-18, before a marvellous intervention by De Bruyne.

The midfielder was deep inside his own half when he floated a 50-yard pass that landed on the toes of Gabriel Jesus on the edge of the Southampton box, and the Brazilian striker dinked it over Alex McCarthy.

Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham, August 17, 2019

De Bruyne produced a masterful pass to help Sterling break the deadlock after 20 minutes of City's clash with Tottenham in its second Premier League game this season.

Spotting Sterling's back-post run early, De Bruyne received the ball from Bernardo Silva and whipped a first-time cross that curled onto the England winger's head for a straightforward finish.

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