Pep Guardiola highlights Kevin De Bruyne's importance for Manchester City

Manchester City defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 to begin their 2020-21 Premier League journey at Molineux on Monday. City had already caused damage to the hosts during the first half, as the visitors went 2-0 up within the first 32 minutes.

Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year Kevin de Bruyne scored the first for his side from a penalty in the 20th minute. Then, Phil Foden found the net in the 32nd minute.

Interestingly, De Bruyne has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other player since the start of the 2019-20 season. He has been involved in 35 goals, 14 of which he scored himself and assisted 21. He is currently three ahead of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah's tally.

Amid all this, Guardiola is impressed by the way De Bruyne played. After the match, the 49-year old Spaniard hailed the 29-year Belgian by calling him "important" for his side.

According to Sky Sports, Guardiola said, "It was a good performance. We know how difficult it is. But the start was good. Since we came back with the national teams, every training session I feel his (De Bruyne) commitment and right now he's an important player for us - always will be. In the situation we're in now he is important for us. His penalty was strong, he played really well like all the team. He likes to play football, he doesn't feel the pressure and likes to compete at a high standard."

The Sky Blues were playing terrific during the first half, as Foden went close to score his second of the evening. Raheem Sterling also caused stress for the opposition, but Wolves keeper Rui Patricio made two decent saves. If that had not happened, the visitors could have finished the game with more goals on the scoreboard.

During the second half, the Wolves were the ones to dominate the field. Daniel Podence went close to scoring twice. The hosts created many opportunities but City's defence was just good enough to avoid danger. With 12 minutes to spare, Raul Jimenez netted the only goal for the Wolves.

Gabriel Jesus scored the third for City in injury time and sealed the season's first away victory for the visitors. Interestingly, De Bruyne assisted Jesus on this occasion, once again proving his importance to the team.