Kevin de Bruyne did his best impersonation of a future Manchester City teammate with his four-goal burst and the “Zen” celebration.
Even if Erling Haaland, one of the most sought-after strikers in the world, were to join City next season, he would struggle to match Kevin de Bruyne’s finishing in a 5-1 rout of Wolverhampton on Wednesday to keep City’s Premier League title hopes alive.
By the 24th minute, the Belgium midfielder had completed his first hat trick for City, and he celebrated with the “Zen” pose made famous by Haaland at Borussia Dortmund in recent years.
De Bruyne didn’t say it was a nod to Haaland—”I just did it because I’d scored three,” he said—but they seem to be on the same page already. But that is for the future.
The immediate goal is to keep the title, and City’s win at Molineux restored City’s three-point lead over Liverpool. Pep Guardiola’s team needs four points from its final two games—against West Ham and Aston Villa—to secure first place, but with a goal difference of 7, three points may be sufficient.
City may be short on defenders after Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho—a midfielder who filled in at centre back—left the game with “problems,” according to Guardiola. Injury has already ruled out centre backs Ruben Dias and John Stones, as well as right back Kyle Walker, for the remainder of the season.
Kevin de Bruyne, on the other hand, is in sublime form for Guardiola.
“He’s been beyond perfect in the second half of the league,” Guardiola said. “He’s always been a generous guy who knows how to make an assist, but I think this season he knows how to be prolific and score goals.”
The title race with Liverpool is “crazy,” according to Kevin de Bruyne, who also hit the post late in the second half. “You can only respect the standard we both set,” he said.
“Both teams are held in the highest regard. We play hard because it’s all we have.”
It was also a big night at the bottom of the table, with 10-man Leeds losing 3-0 to Chelsea to stay in third-to-last place in the table, and Everton drawing 0-0 at Watford to move two points clear of the relegation zone.
Leeds was hampered by another first-half red card, this time by winger Dan James, just as it was in its 2-1 loss at Arsenal on Sunday.
Leeds were reduced to ten men in the 24th minute after James made a wild lunge on Mateo Kovacic’s ankle. Leeds were already trailing after Mason Mount’s fourth-minute goal.
Jesse Marsch, Leeds’ American coach, couldn’t hide his frustration on the sidelines, and Chelsea made him pay with goals from Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku in the second half.
“Against the ball, we have to be aggressive,” Marsch said. “We have to try to win balls, and we’ve been a little too aggressive in some situations lately, and it’s cost us.”
Leeds is one goal behind Burnley on goal difference, having played one more game, with games against Brighton and Brentford remaining.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said Kovacic is likely to miss Saturday’s FA Cup final against Liverpool.
Leicester defeated Norwich 3-0, with Jamie Vardy scoring twice. Leicester moved into tenth place after ending a seven-game winless streak in all competitions.
Norwich and Watford have already been relegated.