Luton Town 2-6 Manchester City: Erling Haaland bags five goals as FA Cup holders cruise into quarter-finals

Erling Haaland plundered an astonishing five goals as Manchester City cruised into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a ruthless 6-2 victory over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

The Norwegian hit-man’s combination with Kevin de Bruyne is as elite as it comes and it was that link-up that paved the way for a first-half masterclass, with the Belgian midfielder providing three sublime passes for the striker to snare a hat-trick inside 40 minutes.

Jordan Clark pulled one back for the hosts with a stunning 25-yard curler on the stroke of half-time and then lashed in a fine volley from Ross Barkley’s pass to ignite hopes of an unlikely comeback on 52 minutes.

However, the visitors immediately quashed their momentum as two more from Haaland prior to the hour mark moved the tie beyond The Hatters, with De Bruyne notching up a fourth assist along the way.

Mateo Kovacic then rubbed salt in Luton’s wounds with a long-range drive 18 minutes from time as City cruised into the draw for the last eight.

Luton will now return their focus to their bid for Premier League survival when they host Aston Villa on Saturday. Manchester City are at home to neighbours Manchester United on Sunday.

This was the type of display Pep Guardiola must have been waiting for. His team have relentlessly picked up results over the past few months but have not really hit such devastating heights to make their nearest rivals quake in their boots.

However, this was a ruthless showing in what could have been a potential banana skin under the Kenilworth Road floodlights as the Citizens made it 18 matches unbeaten.

It sees them make the last eight in the competition for the seventh time in the last eight seasons and the sight of KDB and Haaland in full flow will provide the ideal booster ahead of a key run of games in March.

The small matter of the Manchester derby is followed by the home leg of their Champions League Last-16 tie with FC Copenhagen prior to a crunch title showdown with Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield.

An FA Cup quarter final and then a home showdown with another title rival, Arsenal complete a month that will go some way to showing how likely City’s hopes of back-to-back ‘Trebles’ really is – and on this evidence it’s hard to bet against them with Haaland and KDB seemingly preparing to hit top form when it really matters most.

The forward revelled in the space afforded to him, taking full advantage of being left one-v-one on several occasions and once again benefitting from his almost telepathic link with De Bruyne. On another night he could have had the double hat-trick and maybe even one or two more.

LUTON: Krul 7, Mengi 5, Bell 5, Burke 5, Ogbene 5, Barkley 8, Clark 8, Doughty 7, Chong 5, Woodrow 5, Morris 6. Subs: Johnson 6, Townsend 5, Mpanzu 5, Hashioka 5.

MAN CITY: Ortega 7, Walker 7, Stones 7, Akanji 7, Ake 7, Kovacic 8, Nunes 8, De Bruyne 9, Bernardo 8, Grealish 5, Haaland 10. Subs: Doku 7, Alvarez 6, Gomez 6, Bobb 6, Lewis 6.

04’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 0-1 Manchester City: (Haaland). Nunes finds De Bruyne on the left side of the area and the Belgian’s lethal cut back is lashed home by Haaland.

18’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 0-2 Manchester City: (Haaland). Haaland spins on to De Bruyne’s pass through the middle, holds off Mengi and rifles a shot through the keeper.

40’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 0-3 Manchester City: (Haaland). Haaland latches on to another KDB pass and powers into the left side of the box before clipping a lovely finish beyond Krul.

45’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 1-3 Manchester City: (Clark). That’s the goal of the game so far! Clark side steps Bernardo Silva and curls a superb 25-yard effort right into the top corner.

52’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 2-3 Manchester City: (Clark). Ortega’s poor clearance opens the door for Barkley, who responds to a blocked shot with a sumptuous, flicked pass for Clark to race on to and lash beyond the City keeper.

55’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 2-4 Manchester City: (Haaland). The comeback deflates almost immediately as De Bruyne lays across assist No.4 for Haaland to tap home his fourth goal of the tie.

58’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 2-5 Manchester City: (Haaland). It’s FIVE for Haaland as his thumping shot somehow squirms through Krul. This time it’s Bernardo Silva with the assist.

72’ – GOAL! – Luton Town 2-6 Manchester City: (Kovacic). That’s another wonderful strike. Kovacic gets in on the act as he’s allowed too much time to thunder a dipping 25-yard strike beyond Krul.