Erling Haaland opened fire when Man City crushed Luton 5-1 in round 33, thereby leading the Premier League table while Arsenal and Liverpool played late.

Because he has to keep an eye on the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals with Real mid-next week, coach Pep Guardiola does not use the strongest squad when taking on an opponent who is struggling in the group at risk of relegation. Rodri, Phil Foden, John Stones, Bernardo Silva or Jack Grealish were all given a break.

However, Erling Haaland is still in the starting lineup. The Norwegian striker has not been in good form recently and failed against Real. Guardiola probably wants his students to take advantage of Luton as a stepping stone to relieve their psychology when the season enters an important stage. Kevin De Bruyne did not play in the match against Real, so he also started.

Haaland scored a penalty, increasing the score to 3-0 for Man City. Photo: Reuters

In February, Man City crushed Luton 6-2 in the fifth round of the FA Cup. And that scenario was quickly recreated. In the 2nd minute, the home team defeated the lax defense of the team ranked 18th. After missing the opportunity to face, Haaland continued to shoot, hitting the ball in the face of Japanese defender Daiki Hashioka and then splashing into net.

Continuing the excitement, Man City created tremendous pressure on Luton’s goal. In the first half, they launched a total of 19 shots and did not let the opponent shoot once. However, the Luton defense in general, and goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski in particular, played resiliently. Their diligence in many situations even made Man City fans applaud.

Haaland’s volley hit Hashioka in the face to open the score for Man City. Photo: Reuters

With the lead, Man City is in no hurry. Even without being able to score more goals after more than an hour had passed, Guardiola’s team still played leisurely. In the 64th minute, from a corner kick, Julian Alvarez crossed for Mateo Kovacic to volley into the roof of the net from a distance of 15 meters. Luton arranged dense personnel in front of the goal in this phase, but forgot to block the second line.

After this defeat, Luton created their first notable attack. Fred Onyedinma passed Josko Gvardiol in a power race on the right wing and then crossed. New player Cauley Woodrow’s subsequent one-touch shot bounced off the edge of the crossbar.

10 minutes later, Onyedinma brought down Jeremy Doku in the penalty area. Haaland did not miss the opportunity to put his name on the scoreboard. The Norwegian striker’s kick to the left corner of the goal deceived goalkeeper Kaminski.

Gvardiol scored, sealing a 5-1 victory for Man City. Photo: PA

After leading three goals, Guardiola withdrew De Bruyne from the field. Even though the match was arranged, the Belgian midfielder still appeared dissatisfied. De Bruyne probably felt incomplete because he made many passes to create opportunities but not once did his teammates take advantage.

Luton shortened the score immediately afterwards. Taking advantage of Matheus Nunes’s long ball control, Ross Barkley stole the ball, dribbled past Ruben Dias before shooting daonally past Ederson. This was the only mark Luton made in the match, they only had 26% of possession and had four shots compared to their opponent’s 37.

In the 87th minute, Doku once again tormented Onyedinma. He dribbled the ball, twisted his opponent’s back, then curled it to the inside of the post and into the net. Six minutes later, the Belgian made his mark again. This time it was a return pass for Gvardiol to kick into the roof of Luton’s net. This is the second goal in two consecutive matches for the Croatian defender after he hit Real’s net.

With this victory, Man City has 73 points after 32 matches, two points more than Arsenal and Liverpool but played one more match. Next week, Guardiola and his team will rematch Real at Etihad before hosting Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.