Kevin De Bruyne was greeted by a hail of plastic bottles as he made his way off the pitch at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Belgian maestro opened the scoring as Manchester City inflicted a 3-1 win over the side that began the day on top of the table, Arsenal, and was treated with hostility by the home support.
Having made way in the late stages of the game, he was making his way back towards the City dugout when fans began to hurl bottles from the stands in his direction.
But the 31-year-old seemed to see the funny side of things, and simply stared the fans down as he made his way around the pitch, smirking at the disgruntled supporters.
Although he was not thought to have been hurt by the projectiles, he was seen kicking bottles off the pitch as he went.
Kevin De Bruyne starred for Manchester City and had bottles thrown at him after leaving the field
De Bruyne was seen kicking thrown bottles back off the pitch after it had been thrown by the crowd
One bottle in particular came close to hitting the midfielder after Pep Guardiola decided it was time to rest his star player.
As he rounded the corner flag, a bottle can be seen aiming for his head, only for De Bruyne to duck out of the way at the last moment to avoid contact with it.
He then continued to be followed by the projectiles on his way to his team-mates and coaches.
The Belgian was his side’s star performer on the night that they usurped Arsenal’s hold on top spot in the Premier League.
De Bruyne got the Citizens in front after just 24 minutes, latching onto a shocking backpass from right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu and lobbing Aaron Ramsdale at his near post – ending his own 13-game barren spell in front of goal.
The Gunners then levelled just before half-time from the spot, with Bukayo Saka coolly dispatching the penalty kick to make it 1-1.
However, the visitors then made it 2-1 through Jack Grealish after another defensive error was pounced on by the City attack.
And De Bruyne turned provider for Erling Haaland’s 26th of the season to make it 3-1 on the night, cutting the ball back inside the box to the Norwegian striker to take the game beyond the Gunners in the latter stages.
One projectile was seen only narrowly missing the Belgian’s head after being thrown from the crowd
The Belgian midfielder and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta were involved in a brief touchline flare up
The Spanish boss (R) spent two-and-a-half years as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City
He was also involved in a brief touchline spat with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, which will have gone some way to making himself an unpopular figure at the Emirates.
As the ball went out for a throw, Arteta appeared to let the ball roll past him and impede the Belgian’s approach to collect it with the score locked at 1-1.
De Bruyne was clearly incensed by the Gunners manager, and pushed him aside on as he retrieved the ball, and held out a finger in warning to the Spaniard.
Arteta and De Bruyne spent two-and-a-half years together at the Etihad with the former Guardiola’s assistant manager, winning two Premier League titles and an FA Cup.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
