Manuel Pellegrini hails ‘perfect’ Kevin De Bruyne after £54m man nets late winner

Kevin De Bruyne scored right at the death to secure a win for Man City
Manuel Pellegrini has described him as the ‘perfect’ addition at the club
The Manchester City boss played down his own impact on the game
Pellegrini spoke of the importance of heading into the derby with a win

Published:
21:49 GMT, 21 October 2015

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Updated:
05:25 GMT, 22 October 2015

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Manuel Pellegrini was happy to talk about Kevin De Bruyne after the ‘perfect’ £54m record signing snatched a priceless victory over Sevilla.

De Bruyne struck in injury time to give City an unlikely three points on a what had threatened to be yet another frustrating Champions League evening at the Etihad Stadium.

And the Chilean, who sent the attacking midfielder up front late on in what turned out to be a masterstroke, hailed the former Chelsea man’s performance.

Kevin De Bruyne netted an injury-time winner to secure three Champions League points for Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini (right) hailed Belgium playmaker De Bruyne as the ‘perfect player’ to arrive at the Etihad

‘We bought Kevin because we thought he was a very creative player,’ he said.

‘He has goals in him. This team always tries to play attractive and offensive football and for that you need good players. In all senses he was the perfect player to arrive to our team.’

A modest Pellegrini played down his own role in the dramatic win.

‘I think it’s very important for Kevin,’ he said.

‘We tried to make a change because we were not creating chances. Fortunately he made the play.’

Pellegrini once again left captain Vincent Kompany on the bench.

De Bruyne sucks his thumb, perhaps in a homage to his wife’s pregnancy, after scoring against Sevilla

£54million man De Bruyne takes the applause of the crowd at the Etihad Stadium after securing victory

The Belgian played for his country against his manager’s wishes while on international duty and came on here for just the final two minutes.

‘Vincent is just coming back from a long injury,’ said Pellegrini, who denied he was punishing his skipper.

‘Maybe it was a risk to play him in a big game.’

City will now head into Sunday’s derby with United in high spirits and Pellegrini said this victory could have an impact.

‘When you win in the last minute it gives you more trust in what you are doing,’ he explained.

De Bruyne screams in celebration after netting a late winner to secure a vital Champions League victory

Pellegrini spoke of the importance of a win ahead of the Manchester derby, which takes place on Sunday

‘It’s important to arrive for a derby winning.’

De Bruyne, who hit the winner after an Adil Rami own goal cancelled out Yevhen Konoplyanka’s opener, was relieved.

‘I think even though we didn’t have a bad game in the end we tried everything to look for the victory and thankfully we could score,’ he said.

The win puts second-placed City three points clear of Sevilla Group D for the return match in a fortnight but De Bruyne vowed that they would not go to Spain for a draw.