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14th April 2018
10:17pm BST

Spotting Sterling's darting run through the middle and knowing that the only Spurs player deeper than Dier was Davinson Sanchez, De Bruyne went for it.
Holding off Dier, De Bruyne let the ball drop onto his foot before executing a perfectly-judged first-time volley pass to the onrushing Sterling.
The flight on the ball was perfect, floating over Sanchez's head and allowing the City winger to latch on without breaking his stride. From there, Sterling edged Sanchez for pace before blasting wide. Had he scored, though, De Bruyne's pass would have surely gone down as the assist of the season.
De Bruyne is clearly some sort of freak. That kind of pass, with the ball dropping from that height, and with Dier all over him, shouldn't have happened. Most players, even those of supreme technical abilities, would have been happy to control that ball and pick a pass. De Bruyne? Nah, he opted for pulling off the most elaborate trick imaginable.
But it did. That's why we savour watching footballers like De Bruyne. They challenge our perceptions of just how good top-level footballers are. The Belgian just happens to be among the very best.Explore more on these topics: