Kevin De Bruyne forced to use left foot as a child – to protect friend’s flowers

Kevin De Bruyne has revealed how the flowers in his friends’ garden helped him hone his unerring left foot.

The Belgian playmaker scored a sensational hat-trick of goals from his supposed weaker side inside the opening 24 minutes as Manchester City thrashed Wolves 5-1 at Molineux on Wednesday.

His third goal, a low shot bent around goalkeeper Jose Sa from the edge of the area, was a particularly sweet strike and De Bruyne – who later added a fourth with his right boot – says the technique was learned through necessity.

The 30-year-old said: “When I was young and playing football with my friends in the garden, I had two goals and I could shoot with my right foot, but when I went to my friend’s (house) I wasn’t allowed to shoot with my right because I was killing all the flowers!

“They told me to shoot with my left and I was really young, so I think I practised it a lot and it became more natural to shoot with either. That’s obviously helped me a lot right now.”

City’s victory restored a three-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with just two games to play.

4 goals. 3 points. 1 new ball for my kids.