You had to feel sorry for Huddersfield Town. Already trailing 2-0 to a dominant Manchester City and barely seeing any of the ball, their players looked to the sidelines and saw Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku getting ready to come off the bench.
Barely a minute later, they had conceded another goal, and then the Belgian duo combined to score a stunning fifth goal and round off a near-perfect day for City.
Huddersfield won’t have been the only ones quaking in their boots at the sight of De Bruyne coming off the bench. His triumphant return also sent out a warning to City’s Premier League title rivals and indeed any club who has any ambitions of rivalling Pep Guardiola’s side for silverware this season.
With De Bruyne close to making a full recovery from hamstring surgery, City are truly ready to launch their assault on all competitions as they attempt to repeat last year’s incredible treble triumph…