Manchester City inched closer to the 2021-22 Premier League title with a 5-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday, powered by four goals by Kevin De Bruyne.
The midfielder's performance was the type of clinical excellence that champions are made of, as De Bruyne scored on all four shots on target he had during the match.
Punctuating the performance was a first-half hat-trick that put the match out of reach by the 24th minute. De Bruyne opened the scoring in the seventh minute after a give-and-go sequence with teammate Bernardo Silva, giving the Sky Blues an early lead. Wolves responded four minutes later through Leander Dendoncker, who finished a quick counterattack by the hosts to equalise.
That's as close as Wolves would get as De Bruyne took the game over with goals in the 16th and 24th minutes to complete his 17-minute hat-trick.
The Belgian star wasn't finished scoring, though. On the hour mark, De Bruyne notched his fourth and final goal of the match after combining with Phil Foden to penetrate the final third before finishing the attack himself with a decisive strike past shell-shocked Wolves goalkeeper José Sá.
Raheem Sterling then put an exclamation point on the proceedings with an 83rd-minute goal created by substitute Jack Grealish.
City move three points up on second-place Liverpool at the top of the Premier League standings, with two games left to play for both teams.