Kevin De Bruyne hailed Sergio Aguero as a "world-class" forward for his five-goal display against Newcastle.
The Argentinian made Premier League history by scoring five times in the space of 20 minutes in Manchester City's 6-1 win and teammate De Bruyne said their tactics were simple: Give him the ball.
The £54 million Belgian contributed two assists for Aguero's goals and he said: "Everyone knows that he is a world-class striker. You also see how opportunistic he is and they all went inside.
"If you're in a match when someone is in such a flow, you just try as much as possible to give [them] the ball. Because you know there is a good chance that he scores."
City boss Manuel Pellegrini agreed with De Bruyne's assessment, and added the 27-year-old Argentine is in a class with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"After what we have seen here, of course Kun is at that level. I have already said that after Ronaldo and Messi he is the best player in the world. He always makes important things [contributions] in competitions.
"But the important thing is, not only for Kun, but as a team we must continue to improve, to win the Premier League again and to win the Champions League, because Messi and Ronaldo are always involved in that competition and that is very important for a player.
"I think that this team is in that way [headed] and I'm very happy for us that in Kun we have a very important player."
De Bruyne scored City's other goal with a spectacular volley and confirmed it was deliberate, adding: "It was my intention to shoot. Of course I had to turn 90 degrees with a ball in the air, so I think I did well."
The former Wolfsburg player has made a swift start at City with four goals and three assists in his first five starts.
And he said: "Yes it's going well. There are still times when it is a bit of searching. But I cannot complain about the start.
"Of course the playing style of City is unlike that of Wolfsburg. But in the end it remains just football."
De Bruyne interchanged positions with David Silva at times in the second half and believes it is something the two creative midfielders should continue doing.
"That is of course what we should try as much as possible," he said.
Press Association contributed to this report.