With his cross that Erling Haaland headed in to open the scoring for Manchester City in their match at Southampton, Kevin De Bruyne became only the fifth player in Premier League history to reach 100 assists in the competition.
The Belgian reached the milestone in his 237th match in the competition, which is the quickest in the league's history, 56 matches fewer than Cesc Fabregas.
Players to reach 100 PL assists
| Player | Assists | Matches | Matches to 100 assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Giggs | 162 | 632 | 367 |
| Cesc Fabregas | 111 | 350 | 293 |
| Wayne Rooney | 103 | 491 | 445 |
| Frank Lampard | 102 | 609 | 559 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 100 | 237 | 237 |
It was his league-leading 14th assist of the season and De Bruyne needs only four more to go above Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney and into third in the all-time rankings, behind Fabregas and Ryan Giggs.
Asked after the match whether he could match Giggs' mark of 162, De Bruyne said: "That's a lot! I've been here for eight years, I don't know. It depends on how long I stay, how long I am in good shape and how long we do really well.
"I try to create as much as possible and if my team-mates can score, then it helps me. It's a combination of both. I try to do as much as possible and I need my team-mates to put it in the back of the net."
De Bruyne's assists by season
| Season | Assists | Season | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013/14 | 1 | 2019/20 | 20 |
| 2015/16 | 9 | 2020/21 | 12 |
| 2016/17 | 18 | 2021/22 | 8 |
| 2017/18 | 16 | 2022/23 | 14 |
| 2018/19 | 2 |
In their first season together it was also the seventh time that De Bruyne has provided an assist to Haaland.
That puts Haaland joint-fourth in the rankings of team-mates whom De Bruyne has assisted, 12 behind the leader Sergio Aguero.
Top five players assisted by KDB
| Scorer | Assists |
|---|---|
| Sergio Aguero | 19 |
| Raheem Sterling | 14 |
| Gabriel Jesus | 14 |
| Phil Foden | 7 |
| Erling Haaland | 7 |
