Kevin De Bruyne has admitted that Manchester City were far from their best against Borussia Dortmund.
City maintained their unbeaten start to the season and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages with a narrow 2-1 win over Dortmund on Wednesday night. It was far from a great display from the Blues, however, who were stifled by the resolute Bundesliga side and knocked off their usual game.
Dortmund deservedly took the lead when Jude Bellingham nodded in but going behind sparked City into life. John Stones dragged them level with a thunderous 25-yard drive before Erling Haaland grabbed the winner as he acrobatically turned in Joao Cancelo's wonderful pass.
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It was an important win but De Bruyne wasn't best pleased with the performance. “I don’t think it was a great game. From our side the rhythm wasn’t high enough, especially in the first half," the Belgian said. "The second half was much better, especially after we conceded the goal.
"I think we found a way to win the game, to put them under more pressure and to create chances. But in the first hour I think both teams were not great. Even though we won, I think we have to admit that today wasn’t the way we wanted to play. We found a way to win and that is also important.”
However, De Bruyne was enthused by Haaland's strike and became the latest to shower the striker with praise. He continued: “No [I am not surprised about his good form].
"He has got great quality and the team has got very good quality to provide him with chances. Everybody who thought it would be difficult, I don’t know because we played with great strikers before like Sergio [Aguero], Gabriel [Jesus], Raheem [Sterling] and they scored goals. Erling is going to do the same.
"He has got a great jumping ability, he is huge and he helped us to win. It was an unbelievable cross from Joao and Erling does what he does. He is always in the right position. I think the cross is of the highest quality and the leap from Erling is good. He won the game.”
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