Paul Scholes reckons Kevin De Bruyne is the best midfielder in the world as he put Manchester United to the sword on derby day.
The Belgian put in a man-of-the-match performance for Pep Guardiola's men against their city rivals as his first-half brace secured a 4-1 victory for Manchester City.
De Bruyne was at the heart of everything City were doing at the top end of the pitch and it was his clever corner that found Riyad Mahrez to give the hosts a two-goal cushion after the break.
And former United midfielder Scholes was full of praise for the 30-year-old and believes he is the standout midfielder in the Premier League, if not the world.
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He told Premier League Productions : "He's the best midfielder in the Premier League, probably the best in the world.
"I can't think of anybody else who touches him. He does everything. It's alright when these footballers are great passes and keep possession well, but this lad, scores goals, he makes goals, he defends, his passes are brilliant.
"He's got absolutely everything you want in a top-class midfielder and it's difficult to stop them because you've got three or four of them. You think of Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden. They've got a great team and they come from everywhere.
"They'll score goals. Every time he gets the ball, he is thinking about a goal. He's thinking about scoring or assisting a goal and that's a great attitude to have."
De Bruyne's former teammate Yaya Toure added: "He's a fantastic player, he makes the difference, He scored two goals, but especially the assists for the Riyad Mahrez goal, the precision. It's spot on. The pass from Kevin was delicious."
De Bruyne insists it was crucial they responded to Liverpool's win over West Ham as the title race is set to go down to the wire.
He said: "I think United played very differently to other occasions, they tried to press us, I think we did well in the second half and created more chances and opportunities for space."
"Obviously chances came on the left side, I have to be in the box more when Phil (Foden) is further forward, but it’s just being in the right position at the right time."
"Today we proved we are a good team and we played really well so we deserved the three points."
" Liverpool put the pressure on us but it’s just about winning game by game and we responded today. We always play the game and sometimes we don’t get the result but we play football our way and that’s what we’ll do until the end of the season."
