Kevin De Bruyne went into Tuesday night’s Champions League clash against Napoli riding the crest of a wave following his masterclass in Manchester City’s 7-2 win over Stoke on Saturday.The Belgian winger was hailed for his magnificent display - arguably the standout individual performance of the 2017-18 Premier League campaign so far - at the Etihad Stadium.Stoke boss Mark Hughes called him the best player in the Premier League while Pep Guardiola suggested the 26-year-old is currently the best player in Europe behind Lionel Messi. High praise indeed.It didn’t take the red-hot De Bruyne long to make an impact against Napoli, who currently sit top of the Serie A table and had been tipped to give City a tough game.Four minutes after Raheem Sterling had given City an early lead, De Bruyne provided the assist for Gabriel Jesus which made it 2-0.
De Bruyne loses it with Silva at half-time
The scoreline remained 2-0 up until the half-time interval when De Bruyne was filmed shouting at his teammate David Silva.
After pushing Fernandinho out the way, De Bruyne screamed at Silva: “Let me talk!”.
He was desperate to get to the fourth official.
Video: De Bruyne screams at Silva
Watch the footage here...
Revealed: Why De Bruyne was so angry
But why was De Bruyne so angry? The Belgian comes across as such a laid-back, mild-mannered kind of guy. It was unusual to see him kick off like this.
There is, however, an explanation for his outburst.
Shortly before half-time, De Bruyne was booked by referee Antonio Mateu for dissent.
Angered by what he felt was a harsh and unnecessary booking, De Bruyne attempted to speak to the fourth official but was denied by his teammates, who found themselves on the receiving end of his frustrations.
Silva and Fernandinho were only trying to prevent De Bruyne from receiving another yellow card - and that was a real possibility given how angry he was.
One suspects he apologised and then thanked them once he’d finally cooled down.
Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard react
Here's what BT Sport pundits Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard made of the incident...