Manchester City eased into the FA Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday evening, beating Luton Town 6-2 at Kenilworth Road thanks to five goals from striker Erling Haaland.
The Cityzens put the game out of sight following a rampant first-half display, Haaland netting a 41-minute hat-trick thanks to three fabulous Kevin De Bruyne assists.
Jordan Clark did pull two back for Luton to offer a glimmer of hope, but that was quickly extinguished by Haaland, who grabbed another double shortly after the break. Mateo Kovacic then put the icing on the cake with 20 minutes to play, hammering home Man City’s sixth from range.
How the game unfolded
Luton will have been slightly fearful walking out at Kenilworth Road given the sheer quality in the Man City side, with the likes of John Stones, De Bruyne and Haaland all starting for the reigning FA Cup champions.
Those fears were merited after just three minutes, with Haaland wasting no time in giving Man City the lead. Unsurprisingly, it was De Bruyne who set the Norwegian colossus up, pulling the ball back for the 23-year-old to slam home from close range after wriggling free of Teden Mengi.
It was the same combination that doubled the visitors’ advantage just before the 20-minute mark, with Pep Guardiola’s side repeatedly slicing open their hosts in the early stages. Haaland’s lay off found De Bruyne just inside the Hatters’ half and the Belgian fizzed an inch-perfect through-ball beyond the Luton backline, with the Man City forward firing beyond the onrushing Tim Krul.
Haaland should have completed his hat-trick with 25 minutes on the clock following Jack Grealish’s incisive through-ball, but Krul was able to make himself big and deny the Man City centre-forward. De Bruyne also saw an effort rebuffed following a slick move, with Haaland firing the rebound straight down the throat of the Dutch goalkeeper.
However, it didn’t take long for Haaland to grab his third and the architect was De Bruyne once again. The midfielder slid another fantastic pass beyond the Luton defence, with Haaland showing wonderful composure to dink over Krul.
Clark reduced the deficit before half-time with a superb long-range effort bent beyond Stefan Ortega from 30 yards, before grabbing a surprise Luton second shortly after the break. The midfielder latched on to a lovely chipped ball behind the Man City defence and fired a fantastic strike into the roof of the net.
But Luton’s dream of a historic comeback was cut short just three minutes later, De Bruyne sliding a ball across goal for Haaland to tap into an empty net. Unbelievably, the striker grabbed his fifth of the game just two minutes later, lashing a fierce effort at goal that squirmed past Krul.
Carlton Morris and Ross Barkley saw efforts well stopped by Stefan Ortega at the other end, with Tahith Chong somehow not converting from two yards out following a Luton corner.
Kovacic would then make Luton pay for their profligacy with a thumping long-range effort that flew beyond Krul, capping what was a stellar display from Man City in a truly astonishing FA Cup classic at Kenilworth Road.
