The game was already won for Manchester City.
Having raced to a 3-0 lead over Stoke, the visitors had briefly threatened an unlikely comeback – pulling the score back to 3-2 shortly after half-time.
It wasn’t to be. Gabriel Jesus added his second of the afternoon to make it four for Pep Guardiola’s side, with Fernandinho adding the fifth on the hour mark.
City, as we’ve seen already this season, weren’t for easing up. Kevin De Bruyne had already laid on three assists by this stage and although the second of these was pretty special in its own right, the pass he played for Leroy Sane’s goal was the best of the lot.
As ever, Premier League broadcast rights mean we can’t show you footage of the goal. However, even a series of low resolution screengrabs show enough to make clear that this was a lovely, lovely pass…
The Belgian picks the ball up on City’s right, beating a Stoke player to the ball to move free into space. Sane is wide left at this point, out of shot.
Ignoring an easier forward pass to Raheem Sterling, De Bruyne threads a ball through the gap between Darren Fletcher and Bruno Martins Indi.
Leaving Sane to finish from the corner of the six yard box…
Magic. Having the vision to see a pass like this is one thing; executing it is another.
De Bruyne was soon substituted, but not before City had added a seventh through Bernardo Silva.
