In the individual battle of the Chelsea rejects, it was Bertrand Traore who triumphed over Kevin De Bruyne last night.
While De Bruyne finished the contest on the winning side, with Manchester City defeating Aston Villa 2-0, he was forced to leave the field through injury, making it a night to forget for the Belgium international.
Not only that, but De Bruyne was left red in the face, and that’s not a ginger joke, having been utterly embarrassed by a moment of pure brilliance from Traore, who too is a player who was once on the books at Chelsea.
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After a drop kick from Villa keeper Emi Martinez, the ball dropped over Traore’s shoulder and onto his toe.
It’s an incredibly difficult technique to effectively control the ball in those circumstances, but not only did Traore control it, he left De Bruyne in his wake in doing so.
In case you missed it, you can see the footage below, with De Bruyne being left eating the Etihad turf…
What a touch from Bertrand Traore!
He left De Bruyne in the mud ? pic.twitter.com/lDe4cwZpHj
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 20, 2021