Riyad Mahrez? Kevin De Bruyne proves Manchester City are fine without him during West Brom victory

Who needs a tricky, diminutive £95m playmaker when you already have Kevin De Bruyne? Manchester City possess a wealth of talent in their squad and Riyad Mahrez would only have added to that but this was another performance from their best player that suggested he can almost win football matches on his own.

De Bruyne set-up the opening goal and scored the second that consigned Alan Pardew’s limited West Bromwich Albion to defeat and, with Manchester United losing at Wembley, ensured that Pep Guardiola’s side would extend their lead at the top of the table to 15 points. Sergio Aguero added a late third to make it the sort of dominant scoreline that the Etihad is now used to seeing.

Guardiola handed a debut to the £57m Aymeric Laporte, whose reign as City’s record signing almost only lasted a day. The club were prepared to pay £60m to bring Riyad Mahrez to the Etihad on the final day of the January transfer window but were not willing to go as high as Leicester City’s £95m asking price.

The failure to negotiate a price for Mahrez made little difference to the atmosphere around the Etihad and Laporte received a predictably warm welcome. The applause was all the more enthusiastic when the new arrival from Athletic Bilbao found one team-mate in space with a inch-perfect 50-yard pass. This, clearly, was Guardiola’s type of defender.

That was perhaps the highlight of a quiet opening quarter of an hour that City dominated without ever truly dictating. West Bromwich were on the back foot but relatively comfortable to be there, hoping the smash-and-grab tactics that proved so successful at Anfield last weekend would work again.

Yet even compared to Liverpool’s fearsome attack, this City side is a different gravy and Alan Pardew’s visitors were still stragglers who had won just one of their last 22 Premier League games. You expected that eventually one of Guardiola’s players would make that difference tell. Unsurprisingly, that player was Kevin De Bruyne.

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Fernandinho found the breakthrough, slipping a finish through Ben Foster’s legs after being played in through the inside-left channel, but the goal was all about De Bruyne, who provided yet another example of his mastery with the ball. The Belgian’s pass cut West Bromwich to ribbons, undoing all their early hard work.

De Bruyne was not satisfied though and spent the remainder of the half attempting to get his own name on the scoresheet, but one shot straight at Foster and another devilish effort that zipped over the crossbar meant he and City would return to the dressing rooms with a mere one-goal lead. The only downside of the opening 45 minutes for the hosts was yet another injury. David Silva hobbled off with six minutes remaining.

Just over a minute after the restart and City had picked up from where they had left off, though Raheem Sterling miscued when he should have doubled their lead.

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The winger has shown a striker’s instinct in the penalty area at times this season but it deserted him this time when, after jinking inside and finding space for a shot, his effort was high and wide of top right-hand corner. The Etihad groaned but Guardiola could forgive Sterling and called him over to plant a kiss on cheek the next time he passed him on the touchline.

Two-thirds of the way, the contest had lulled. The visitors were still yet to trouble Ederson, City were rarely threatening and the crowd were more energised by a series of petty fouls than any coherent play. It was then that De Bruyne decided to flick the switch and suddenly impose himself on the game again.

Burst forward from inside his own half on the counter-attack, the Belgian somehow stayed upright after James McClean’s cynical and dangerous attempt to bring him crashing to the turf. Unfazed, he exchanged a one-two with Sterling and, after Foster had rushed out to close down the winger, stroked the return ball into an unguarded net.

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He now had the sublime goal his performance deserved but he wanted more than that - he wanted the spectacular. Moments after play restarted, De Bruyne hit a high, dipping effort from five yards inside the West Bromwich half. Foster, back-pedalling, only just prevented it from dipping underneath the crossbar.

Guardiola withdrew his star performer as the game entered its closing stages, knowing the three points were won but also perhaps fearing West Bromwich’s increasingly rough tackling. The worst came with five minutes remaining as a frustrated Matt Phillips flew horizontally through young substitute Brahim Diaz. Referee Bobby Madley only saw fit to show a yellow.

Perhaps it was all getting a little too much for West Bromwich, who conceded a third as stoppage time approached. Sergio Aguero, a quieter presence than usual, delightfully lifted the ball over Foster after Sterling had slipped him in through the visiting defence. City would take all three points and move 15 clear at the top, but with De Bruyne in this form, that had rarely seemed in doubt.