Kevin De Bruyne believes Manchester City ’s victory at Chelsea will prove to be a “six-pointer” in the race for the title.
Pep Guardiola’s side outclassed the champions on their own Stamford Bridge pitch on Saturday evening, and the City boss celebrated wildly on the pitch with his staff and players at the final whistle.
Explaining why afterwards, match-winner De Bruyne said: “Last year I think we had big games where I think we didn’t do particularly badly, but we had no points to show for it.
“These are the most important games. It’s just three points, but to win these ones, it’s six points in the end.”
Chelsea beat City home and away last season on the way to winning the title.
Guardiola’s side were also beaten by Tottenham and Liverpool, while drawing with Arsenal and Manchester United.
De Bruyne struck in the 67th minute to sink Chelsea on Saturday.
His side have also crushed Liverpool 5-0 this season to add to a string of scalps in the bottom half of the table.
He added: “You can win all the big games and then lose all the small ones. You need to try to be constant.
“Obviously in the end of the season when the gap is minimal and you win these big games, it means a lot. I think it’s just nice to get the winning feeling and stay in the same rhythm.”
Forced out of Chelsea by Jose Mourinho in 2014 after just two Premier League starts in as many years, De Bruyne - described post-match as “the complete player” by current Stamford Bridge boss Antonio Conte - insisted he had no regrets.
He went on: “I’m way too positive for that. It’s just the way it goes. There’s no bad feeling at all, it’s just part of life, and you need to grow up.
“It’s a business! It’s always friendly here, I speak to the guys who I know, it’s always good to see the people.
“It’s just the way it goes, I’ve no regrets for everything that happened. I don’t think they have regrets. I think they’ve won two Premier League titles since I’ve been gone, so they’re doing fairly well!
“For me at that point it was a good decision to go, and maybe for them it was also good to let me go.”
De Bruyne also warned City now have the strength in depth to crush any team after winning so impressively without injured pair Benjamin Mendy and Sergio Aguero.
He went on: “We will miss the guys, but I think our team is strong enough to show that they are ready. That’s our strong point from the beginning of the season. Everybody who came in, the substitutes, did really well. It shows that everybody is ready to play.
“Obviously if you get injuries it’s always unfortunate to lose somebody for nine months, especially for him, it’s bad. Mendy sent us a message before the game.
“He’s a crazy guy, he was like doing a bit what Pep does before the game, in the meeting. It was just funny, it’s just the way he is, everybody loves him.
“Also for Sergio, if you have a car crash, it’s unfortunate, there’s nothing you can do about it. Luckily, he’s okay.”