Kevin De Bruyne: Man City star's epic football IQ shown in clip v Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne oozed class in one of his team's biggest games of the season.

The Belgian international was at the races from minute one and found himself among the goals as his side ran riot against their closest Premier League title rivals, Arsenal - strolling to a 4-1 win.

The 31-year-old scored the opener within seven minutes and then set up defender-turned-midfielder John Stones just before the break to double City's advantage.

Nine minutes after the interval, De Bruyne completed his trio of goal contributions as he bagged his second of the match.

In a game of such magnitude, you often rely on your greatest players to produce a stroke of genius - and De Bruyne delivered.

However, putting his attacking exploits and eye for goal aside, it was his vision that impressed users on Twitter after the match.

De Bruyne’s impressive vision was on full display at the Etihad Stadium

As you can see, De Bruyne is making sure that the man in the middle, Michael Oliver, is aware that City had a one-man advantage as he was fouled by Rob Holding.

The Arsenal defender can be seen committing a tactical foul on City’s playmaker just inside the host’s half.

As the ball trickles through Holding’s legs, the Gunners' man decides to bring De Bruyne down.

A furious De Bruyne then points out to Oliver that City would have been in a particularly advantageous situation if Holding hadn't stopped his progress.

“Mike, it's four vs three” the midfielder rages as he gestures with annoyance towards the referee.

The footage shows he was one step ahead of the Arsenal defence and ready to launch a promising attack for the home side.

Fans who replied to the tweet were in awe of De Bruyne’s match awareness as he complained to Oliver.

“This is the moment the ball comes into KDB. How many of us recognize this as a 4v3 opportunity? There’s levels to this game and KDB is at the very top.”

Another said: “Stuff like this that just shows you how astronomically ahead of anyone pro footballers are.” with another claiming: “The fact that he already has it mapped out in his head. This guy is a footballing genius and one of the greatest midfielders of all time, no doubt.”

Renowned football psychologist, Geir Jordet, also chimed in on Twitter to explain the brilliance of De Bruyne and the attributes that set him apart from the rest.

“A key to Kevin De Bruyne’s lethal skills around the opponent’s score box is his ability to quickly see opportunities around him. This excellent vision is fueled by his ability to scan, which enables him to repeatedly put his eyes on relevant information, to subsequently pick it up.”

Jordet then linked a previous thread of his own showcasing the central midfielder’s jaw-dropping awareness.

There’s no doubt De Bruyne's footballing intelligence is out of this world, and the above footage is just another example of that.

Arsenal left the blue side of Manchester pointless and have, in turn, seen their chances of Premier League glory reduced hugely.

This contest has left the remaining stretch of the season open and although City are still two points behind their title rivals, they have two games in hand and are just two points behind.

Mikel Arteta’s side’s poor patch of form makes for dismal reading and City are now firmly in the driving seat as they enter the final weeks of this campaign.

Brighton their highest-placed remaining opponent, while Arsenal will have to contend against Eddie Howe’s high-flying Newcastle.