In a stunning display of striking, Erling Haaland scored five goals against Luton in Man City’s 6-2 win to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals. It was the 23-year olds eight hat-trick for City and he also became the first player to ever score 5 goals twice for his club.
Haaland’s first four goals were all assisted by Kevin De Bruyne and his fifth by Bernardo Silva. As City’s top scorer, the Norwegian has made 27 goals for the season despite having missed almost two months with a foot injury.
It is now a ridiculous 79 goals in 83 games for Haaland since moving to the Etihad Stadium. With him in this kind of form, a repeat of last year could very well be on the card for City.
Next up for Manchester City is a rivalry matchup against Man United on Sunday. Only a point behind Liverpool, City will have their eye on the top position.
Match Summary
City got off to a hot start, as Haaland put them ahead just three minutes into the contest. Nunes was able to split Luton’s back line and ran the ball through to De Bruyne, who fed Haaland for a relatively easy strike from 10 yards away.
Teden Mengi from Luton tried his best to stick with Haaland, trying to match his power and strength. While he was able to keep the ball away for a short period, after 18 minutes the City striker was able to double his side’s lead. De Bruyne was once again the creator of the goal, assisting Haaland in stride as he raced past Mengi and crashed it through the legs of Tim Krul.
The hat-trick almost came a few minutes later but Krul was able to get his body behind the ball. Luton only managed to stop Haaland for another 22 minutes though as again he was able to get one into the net in the 40th.
Luton called for offside on Haaland’s third goal, but VAR revealed that he had timed his run perfectly.In the end the finish was a chip over Krul to send his team up 3-0.
Luton attempted an unlikely comeback after Jordan Clark found the top corner just before halftime to pull back one goal. The brilliant finish was sent spinning into Stefan Ortega’s top corner from 25 yards. It gave the Luton crowd something to finally cheer about.
Clark was then able to net another just after the half to put his team within a goal. This time much closer to the net, he shot across the goalkeeper with a great angle and got one past the near post and beyond Ortega.
Unfortunately for Luton the dream didn’t last long, as Haaland and De Bruyne found another gear. The pair scored just three minutes later as De Bruyne yet again provided Haaland with a perfect ball which led to a simple tap-in.
Haaland then added his fifth with a left-foot drive past Krul, this time on an entry pass from Bernardo Silva. Kovacic got his name added to the scoresheet in the 72nd minute to put his team up 6-2 and pile onto Luton’s misery.
In the end, the match wasn’t really close despite Clark’s brilliance just before the half. Haaland once again proved that he was the leading striker in the Premier League and when in good health is s force to be reckoned with. De Bruyne also proved he was a master at setting up attacks, setting up his striker for success throughout the match.
Other FA Cup Matches
Elsewhere, Leicester City was able to book a quarter-finals spot as well, beating Bournemouth 1-0 via a Abdul Fatawu extra-time goal. Fatawu was able to bullet one past goalkeeper Mark Travers in the final minute of the first half in the additional period.
Newcastle United also squeezed through their matchup in a penalty shootout at Blackburn after the regulation ended in a 1-1 tie. In the shootout Martin Dubravka made a couple of clutch saves to deny Szmodics and Dominic Hyam, sending his team to the next round.
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