Yaya Toure hailed the influence of Samir Nasri and Kevin De Bruyne in Manchester City's 3-0 victory over Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.
De Bruyne came back to haunt the club that sold him to Wolfsburg in 2014 on his first return to Stamford Bridge, teeing up Sergio Aguero for the opening goal of the match in the first half.
The Belgian launched the counter-attack through which Nasri laid on Aguero's second after half-time, and the Argentina international completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Thibaut Courtois was shown a red card for a foul on Fernandinho.
Despite a trio of strikes from Aguero - who took his top-flight tally to 21 for the season - it was the performances of the midfield duo that garnered praise from Toure.
"It was a brilliant game, we played really well. The first half we started really well, we tried to control the game, we had some counter-attacks," the Ivorian said on Sky Sports. "I think it was a good game for all the team and today we deserved the win.
"In a way I think it was one of the best games [we have played this season] because playing at Stamford Bridge is not easy. I think the team played really well, especially Samir and De Bruyne - when they're both together in midfield the team play very well."
The presence of De Bruyne and Nasri resulted in Toure operating in a deep-lying midfield role.
Having only been a substitute in the 1-0 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, the 32-year-old said he is happy to take on such a position if it means he can be of benefit to the team.
"To be honest, I like to play anywhere, I try to help the team. I was delighted to help my team-mates again because I think I missed two or three games," added Toure.
"It's always difficult to watch my team-mates play without me, I always want to be involved and today I enjoyed it a lot and I'm really satisfied with the win.
"I always want to be involved, always want to work hard. The most important [thing] is to always work hard for the team. We have a couple of important games coming in the next weeks and I will try to do my best to help the team as much as I can."
