It was as if Erling Haaland had heard the story of how Denis Law scored seven goals for Manchester City the last time they visited Luton Town in the FA Cup in 1961 and accepted the challenge.
What followed was an absurd display of Haaland’s dominance: an “I was there” game in which he scored a quintuple of goals that can only leave Manchester United trembling ahead of this Sunday’s Premier League showdown.
Haaland scored five of City’s six goals and Kevin De Bruyne assisted four of them. This was as cold, calculated and robotic as a striker could be, dismantling Luton in such routine fashion at Kenilworth Road that one of his celebrations involved him sheepishly shrugging his shoulders.
There were even some Luton fans who gave him a standing ovation after his 77th-minute substitution. Partly because they knew the torture was finally over, but mainly because of his brilliance. Sometimes you just have to applaud art.
In 1961, Law scored all six goals as City led 6-2 here, only for the match to be abandoned after 69 minutes due to a biblical downpour. It was repeated four days later and Law scored his seventh goal of the tie, although it was Luton who won 3-1 to advance.
Erling Haaland scored five goals as Manchester City swept away Luton on Tuesday night.
Kevin De Bruyne gave four assists to the Norwegian striker during the match
City were sweating over De Bruyne’s fitness after he missed the 1-0 win against Brentford last week.
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This time Luton received no help from heaven. Not when the ‘Norse God’ – as he was described in a recent interview with British magazine GQ – is showing the omnipotent side of him so ruthlessly.
Haaland’s five goals were complemented by a goal from Mateo Kovacic to send City to the FA Cup quarter-finals, but Pep Guardiola is such a perfectionist that he was not completely satisfied. “No, it’s not perfect,” he said. “He never is.”
It is possible that Guardiola was thinking about the injury of Jack Grealish, who was substituted midway through this match.
Grealish sat on the bench with his head in his hands and his coat covering his face, clearly distraught.
‘Ingle’, Guardiola confirmed, the injury that has already worried him this season.
Rob Edwards had no complaints. His Luton team were simply attacked by a wonderful team, as he said: “The combination of Haaland and De Bruyne was sensational, and the supporting cast around them wasn’t bad either.”
Jordan Clark produced two sensational strikes to help Luton get two goals back
Pep Guardiola’s team has reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in the last six consecutive seasons
Haaland and De Bruyne needed three minutes to combine and give City the lead after good work from Manuel Akanji and Matheus Nunes in the build-up.
Nunes found De Bruyne, whose burst from behind went unnoticed as Jordan Clark fell on his back. Haaland lost Teden Mengi by pretending to go in one direction and then the other, hitting the ball square for 1-0.
Luton looked for a quick response and if not for a brilliant block from Nathan Ake, Carlton Morris would have scored his own pass from Alfie Doughty.
Instead, City made it 2-0 when goalkeeper Stefan Ortega launched a long ball towards Haaland. He picked it up, handed it to De Bruyne, turned and ran away from Mengi. Haaland did not need to look back. He knew exactly what was coming: a ball behind to bury past Tim Krul.
The mood cooled in the 38th minute, when the substitute board was stopped. Grealish’s day was over, his groin hurt too much to play. He watched from the bench as Haaland and De Bruyne completed their hat-trick of goals and assists in the 40th minute. How simple it was too: De Bruyne’s ball went in behind and Haaland sent it over Krul to make it 3-0.
Luton pulled a goal back as the first half came to a close. Clark’s move to his right earned him space to shoot from 20 yards and he unleashed a curler into the top corner to make it 3-1.
The away dressing room at Kenilworth Road is no bigger than an Etihad Stadium broom cupboard, but at half-time you could imagine Guardiola forcefully using his limited space to demand more goals.
It was a tough day at the office for Rob Edwards’ team, which has already lost four consecutive losses.
Jack Grealish suffered another injury and was seen cutting a distraught figure on the touchline after being substituted with an injury.
City are now unbeaten in their previous 17 games in all competitions.
He got them, but only after Luton had made it 3-2 when Ross Barkley lifted a nice ball behind for Clark. He buried it for his second strike of the game with Kenilworth Road now at their loudest, feeling they could secure a famous comeback.
However, City soon secured victory. In the 55th minute, Haaland got another assist from De Bruyne after a nice ball in behind from Kyle Walker.
In the 58th minute, Haaland took advantage of the power to shoot under Krul, this time assisted by Bernardo Silva.
Things improved in the 72nd minute, when Mateo Kovacic secured the sixth of the night with a sweet goal and Haaland was substituted in the 77th. Their devouring was over. Next on his plate: Manchester United.