With the club’s record goalscorer Sergio Aguero on the bench as he manages his knee injury and fellow striker Gabriel Jesus out after contracting Covid-19, De Bruyne was moved forward and the Belgian responded with a goal and an assist.

“Bit bizarre in the beginning,” De Bruyne told Sky Sports when asked about his experience.

“I’ve done it a few times in my career … Obviously we have a lot of forwards out and the coach asked me to do this job, so I tried my best to do it as best as possible.”

Victory means City are unbeaten in seven league games and fifth in the table with 29 points from 15 matches, four points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.

“It’s important we win one of these big games. This season we had played some good games but not won any of them, so we have shown we can win the big games,” De Bruyne said.

“We’re still fighting an uphill battle, but we are getting closer, that’s all we can do now.

“The years we were champions we were winning big games. It’s a bit different this year because everyone is losing points. We had a bad start, but we are coming back, so it’s a good thing we’re here fighting and that’s all we can do now.”