Kevin De Bruyne: 'We had to be patient to beat Leicester

Kevin De Bruyne praised Manchester City 's character as they closed in on the Premier League title.

The leaders beat Leicester 2-0 on Saturday and need just three more wins from their final seven games to regain the crown.

Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus, on his birthday, sent City 17 points clear at the top - ahead of Manchester United's game with Brighton on Sunday night.

It was a 15th straight away win in all competitions and De Bruyne was impressed with City's focus after many players went away with their countries for World Cup qualifiers.

"They played defensive and we had to be patient. That's what we did and I was happy for Mendy to break the deadlock," he told mancity.com.

"I thought we were really good today. Especially the first half we totally dominated. They had the chance with (Jamie) Vardy but in the first half there was basically one team playing.

"If you look at 90 minutes it was 2-0. I think we deserved more goals. After an international break, that's really well done by the team.

"I came back on Tuesday after the game and trained on Thursday and half the team trained yesterday.

"All we can do is rest up, be ready for the games and the manager chooses the players who have been here the longest.

"When you win the game it's always the right pick. The team did really well and I am really pleased."

Fernandinho had an early goal disallowed, while De Bruyne hit the bar with a free-kick before Mendy and Jesus scored in the second half.

Jamie Vardy had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half but third placed Leicester rarely threatened.

"It's a very good team," Ayoze Perez told the club website. "They dominate the ball really, really well. We stuck to our plan, but I think the result at the end, they didn't create many chances and they were quite frustrated at some points.

"They could hardly get through us, through the middle, but a couple of little details, little mistakes can make the difference against a very good team.

"So, we paid for it and it's a shame because we were doing quite well. We knew we were going to have our chances, but at the end, they were better than us in terms of chances, and they got the win."