Fresh off the back of a loss against Arsenal last week, Manchester City knew that nothing short of a win would do.
Six points off league leaders and with defensive vulnerabilities, City welcomed Sunderland in today’s Barclays Premier League fixture.
Perhaps their only consolation was that Sunderland were also in dire form, suffering three defeats in a row.
A perfect cross from De Bruyne ensured that Raheem Sterling only had to guide a simple header into the post.
The first goal was a sign of things to come as captain Yaya Toure put in a quick second.
De Bruyne got his second assist of the match with another pinpoint cross to Bony from a freekick before getting on the scoresheet himself.
It could and should have been more as Bony squandered a golden opportunity from the penalty spot.
Fabio Borini scored what was a consolation for Sunderland in a game that ended 4-1 at the Etihad stadium.
A low point for Manchester City had to be Vincent Kompany forced off just minutes after he was introduced. Vincent Kompany has been out with injury since November 8 and it remains to be seen for how long he will be ruled out again.