Luton Town FC vs Manchester City (27th Feb 2024)

Hatters exit FA Cup at hands of ruthless City

The Town’s run in the FA Cup came to an abrupt end as ruthless Erling Haaland scored five times to send holders Manchester City into the quarter-finals.

The Hatters had no answers to the striker, playing for the first time at Kenilworth Road, with the Norwegian firing the visitors in front in the third minute from Kevin De Bruyne’s cut-back.

It was 2-0 to Citizens on 18 minutes when Haaland latched onto De Bruyne’s throughball to thunder past Tim Krul.

Krul, who was in fine form all evening in the face of an attacking bombardment, could do nothing as De Bruyne and Haaland combined once more for the striker to lift a delightful finish home.

As half-time approached, however, the Hatters got themselves to within two goals when Jordan Clark hit a sumptuous 25-yard curling effort into the top corner. It was the midfielder’s first of the season and first since scoring in the play-off final at Wembley in May.

After the restart, Town voices were raised as, on 52 minutes, Clark got his second to make it 3-2, lashing home brilliantly from Ross Barkley’s superb lifted pass.

However City – and Haaland in particular – wasted no time in restoring their advantage as the striker scored twice in a three-minute spell to make it 5-2.

Krul continued to impress for the Town as the visitors pushed for more but the Dutchman couldn’t stop a sixth with 17 minutes to go when Mateo Kovacic’s drive from the edge of the box flew home and that was that.

Town: Krul; Ogbene (sub Hashioka 62), Doughty, Mengi, Burke, Bell (sub Johnson 39); Clark (sub Mpanzu 62), Barkley; Chong, Morris, Woodrow (sub Townsend 56).

Subs not used: Shea, Osho, Berry, Nelson, Piesold.

Attendance: 11,163, including 1,866 in the away end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SJqvw1PDXI – Rob Edwards interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly2y0JJipac – match highlights

Haaland hammers five as Luton are thrashed by Manchester City in the FA Cup

FA Cup fifth round: Luton Town 2 Manchester City 6

Luton Town's FA Cup adventure was ended at Kenilworth Road this evening as they ran into a simply unstoppable Erling Haaland, the Norwegian phenomenon scoring an incredible five times to send Manchester City into the quarter-finals.

Unlike back in 1961 when Denis Law scored all six as City led 6-2 with 69 minutes gone, before the game was then abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch, there was little chance of history repeating itself this time. To be honest, Luton's back-line wouldn't have really welcomed the unenviable proposition of going up against the machine-line striker once more, April's now fairly daunting trip to the Etihad more than enough.

Town boss Rob Edwards had made three changes for the tie, Tim Krul as expected replacing Thomas Kamsinki between the posts, with Jordan Clark and Reece Burke in for Gabe Osho and Sambi Lokonga. There was no way the visitors were treating the game as anything other than the chance to get their hands on the trophy once more, playing all the big guns including Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish as well.

Although they couldn't replicate the red side of the city and score within 37 seconds, it didn't take them much longer, just three minutes in fact, De Bruyne's powerful run on the left seeing Clark slip and that gave him the freedom to pick out Haaland who simply doesn't miss from a few yards out for the first of what was a very fruitful evening.

Luton responded well to the goal though, Alfie Doughty sending in two excellent crosses from the left that Calrton Morris just couldn't turn in, Tahith Chong doing the same, the forward unable to arrive on cue. Crucially, Town couldn't make the most of those half chances though and Haaland showed them how to finish again on 18 minutes, sent clean through and outpacing Mengi to finish through the legs of the advancing Krul.

The Dutchman did finally manage to repel City, probably as it wasn't from Haaland, denying Grealish, as he also prevented Haaland from having his hat-trick inside minutes, the forward able to pin Meng and speed away again to bear down on Krul, this time the stopper flying out to block with his legs. Matheus Nunes had a go on the angle, only to slice into the home fans and promptly apologise to anyone who might have bore the brunt of his fizzing drive.

Krul came to the rescue again on 29 minutes, as he showed impressive reactions to parry De Bruyne's volley from Grealish's terrific cross and then had an element of fortune as despite still being grounded, saw Haaland hammer the rebound straight at him. The Hatters did manage a shot in anger just after the half hour, Cauley Woodrow curling wide from outside the box.

Town then were forced into a chance with Amari'i Bell going off on 39 minutes after picking up a knock which saw Edwards opt to bring on teenage defender Joe Johnson in what was his biggest game ever, taking on the likes of Haaland and co, who were already in full flow. City had to bring off Grealish, but they could replace him with Belgian international Jeremy Doku, as Haaland did have his first half hat-trick 60 seconds later, escaping Johnson and deftly dinking over Krul, as a VAR check confirmed he had timed his run to perfection.

With the home fans fearing the worst, they were out of the seats on the stroke of half time as Clark picked the ball up from Barkley some 20 yards out and curled spectacularly into the top corner for his first goal of the season. After the break, City were straight into their stride once more, slicing through the Luton defence and only a firm hand from Krul prevented Nunes from adding an immediate fourth.

The Hatters then looked like they might make a game of it, with another unerring finish of real quality, as Stefan Ortega's poor clearance went straight to Ross Barkley. His instant shot was blocked, as the England international then lofted a brilliant pass for Clark who took it down on his chest and hammered into the net to make it 3-2 with 52 on the clock.

The home supporters were allowed to believe their side could pull off the unthinkable for a few minutes, three in fact, as De Bruyne went through again and picked out Haland who upped his tally to four, the Belgian creative genius having set up all of them. Any flickering dreams of a revival were then completely extinguished before the hour mark as having made a sharp stop from Nunes, Krul's otherwise excellent defiance was tainted by that man Haaland, his drilled shot going straight through his legs.

It seemed only Haaland could find the net, as De Bruyne hammered in an effort that Krul was equal to, Luton opting to bring on Hashioka for his first outing after joining the club in January. Still Hatters pressed though, Morris springing the offside trap, unable to beat the outstretched body of Ortega who then made an even better stop at full stretch to fingertip Barkley's effort behind.

Krul was able to stop Doku from adding another goal, but he was finally beaten by another player not hailing from Norway on with 18 minutes left, although questions marks will be raised by the manner in which Mateo Kovacic's fairly central attempt arrowed in.

Haaland's hold over the Hatters was finally ended when his number was raised in the closing stages, as he received a hearty ovation from the Kenny End, who knew they had seen something special, a shell-shocked home side reduced to potshots from distance, Andros Townsend shooting straight at Ortega. Late on, City almost had a seventh, Doku's radar off again, as referee Anthony Taylor, who infuriated the home support with some baffling calls all evening, only played a single second of stoppage time, easily his best decision of the night.

Hatters: Tim Krul, Chiedozie Ogbene (Daiki Hashioka 62), Teden Mengi, Reece Burke, Amari'i Bell (Joe Johnson 39), Alfie Doughty, Ross Barkley, Jordan Clark (Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 62), Tahith Chong, Cauley Woodrow (Andros Townsend 62), Carlton Morris (C). Subs not used: James Shea, Zack Nelson, Luke Berry, Axel Piesold.

City: Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker (C), John Stones (Oscar Bobb 77), Nathan Ake (Sergio Gomez 77), Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland (Julian Alverez 77), Jack Grealish (Jeremy Doku 38), Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva (Rico Lewis 77), Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes. Subs not used: Jeremy Doku, Julian Alvarez, Sergio Gomez, Oscar Bobb.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Attendance: 11,163.

Hatters chief hails 'incredible' Haaland and De Bruyne as the best duo he has ever witnessed

Luton boss on 6-2 defeat to Manchester City

Luton boss Rob Edwards hailed Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne as the best duo he has ever seen live after the pair ripped the Hatters apart in their 6-2 FA Cup fifth round victory at Kenilworth Road this evening.

Goalscoring machine Haaland scored five goals on the night, while De Bruyne bagged four assists, as Pep Guardiola’s side simply blew their hosts away in scintillating fashion. Speaking afterwards, Edwards said: “We’ve come up against the best nine and 10 combination I’ve seen, certainly I’ve seen live anyway.

"I know there’s people like Lionel Messi that might have something to stay on that, but the combination of Erling Haaland and De Bruyne tonight were pretty sensational and the supporting cast around them wasn’t bad either. So there’s some reality in our room that we’ve come up against some brilliant, brilliant players. We’ve given it everything, it was an entertaining game and that’s important, but it’s also important that we get better and I think we’ll do that, the lads will respond well

"There’s always things we can do better, I’ll look back and go, right, what can I take from it, where can I learn? Where can I help us improve? There’s no doubt about it, they were incredible and they played to the space that we gave them and did it very, very well. But look, our lads were incredibly brave and bold, stuck to the task and stuck to what I’m asking them to do and we’re committing to doing.

"Sometimes when you’re quite brave and bold and you come up against that kind of team, you can come unstuck and we did tonight. We’re not going to change, we’ve just got to get better, keep improving and we’re not going to come up against that thankfully every week.”

It had looked like a chastening evening was in prospect for the Hatters as Haaland netted a hat-trick within 40 minutes. Town midfielder Jordan Clark then gave the hosts hope with a wonderful curler into the top corner on the stroke of half time, also volleying into the roof of the net early in the second half to make it 3-2. Those dreams of a famous comeback were quickly doused though as Haaland clinically scored twice more, Mateo Kovacic completing the rout.

Edwards added: “It is disappointing to go out. We didn’t want to go out, we gave it everything and we didn’t want to. We wanted to win the game, we came up against a much better team in the end and they deservedly went through.

"We’ve done this on a number of occasions this year. We’ve come back from a few goals down, we don’t ever give up. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get the last goal in the game. We talk about that. Let’s get the last goal, always keep pushing and try to give the fans something to sing about and be proud of. At 3-2, we gave ourselves a chance. The fourth goal was disappointing. They’re all disappointing.

“The slip from Clicker for the first goal and we’re 1-0 down after a few minutes after talking about having such a good start, trying to have a good start in the game. The fourth was frustrating and we could’ve been better in that moment, no doubt about it. It’s on me. I’m asking the lads to play this way and, at times, against amazing movement, world-class players, the timing of the pass and the detail of where it goes, we came unstuck a little bit.

"At 4-2 it’s almost game over then when we’d given ourselves a glimmer. We have to dust ourselves down, learn quickly, bounce into training and look to try and attack the game on Saturday. It is a huge game for us now.”

Hatters boss backs his Town players to react positively to Haaland-inspired drubbing

Town have to bounce back against Villa on Saturday

Luton boss Rob Edwards has backed his side to have a positive reaction to last night’s FA Cup thrashing at the hands of an Erling-Haaland inspired Manchester City when they go up against Aston Villa in a massive game for the club’s Premier League survival hopes this weekend.

Town were handed their biggest defeat since losing 7-0 at Fulham in May 2022 yesterday evening, while it was the first time they have conceded six on home soil for almost 30 years, Sheffield United running out 6-3 winners in a Division One game back in December 1994, as they felt the full force of the Norwegian international who was simply unstoppable on the night, along with architect in chief Kevin De Bruyne, who added four assists.

A look at the history books shows Town have a good record at bouncing back from such results, as following the hammering at Craven Cottage, they beat Reading 1-0, while the Blades defeat led to a goalless draw at home to Derby County. They were also thumped 7-0 by Brentford in November 2019, going on to defeat Wigan 2-1 in a thrilling contest next up courtesy of George Moncur’s memorable winner.

With that in mind, Edwards has just a few days to pick his side up from the hefty loss, as they begin a top flight run-in that sees them entertain a Villains side who are after a top four slot themselves and on the a run of two wins from two, with a red-hot striker of their own in Ollie Watkins who has bagged 20 goals already this term, as he strengthens his claims for an England call-up.

However, the Town chief has backed his side to quickly put the FA Cup exit behind them, as he said: “I hope it doesn’t have a negative effect. I’m always going to come out and try and back the team and try and be bullish, say what I think are the right things, but then time will tell now how we react and knowing this group the way I do, I think they’ll react in the right way.

“We’ve got some really good leaders in there, lads who know how big the games are coming up and tonight, we’ve been hit by an amazing team, arguably the best team in the world, one of the best teams I’ve probably ever seen, and there’s no shame in that. There will be bits, and it’s on me, the areas that we can improve and work on, so we’ll work really hard to try and rectify that quickly, but I don't see it knocking this group.

"We’ve got to make sure we use it to get better and not to allow it to feel sorry for ourselves as if you do that in this league then you are done, and we’re not done at the moment, we’re not. We’re in with that fighting chance that we’ve talked about, so let's learn and make sure that we get better rather than feel sorry for ourselves. This group have shown that time after time, we can’t ever give up. If you do against a team like that then they’re ruthless and they keep going, and they were tonight. A tough night for us, but it’s not going to diminish our confidence and our belief in what we’re trying to do."

One thing that Luton do need to do, and quickly, is become far harder to score against, as since their thumping 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, they have now shipped 19 goals in just five games, including four against both Newcastle and Liverpool. However, going up against the likes of Haaland, De Bruyne and co, plus facing a Reds side who are involved in a three-horse race for the league title, is something that Edwards wants his team to learn from once more.

He continued: “We’ve got to try and see this game and Wednesday, these two games, as opportunities to learn. That’s the level, that’s elite, that’s the best we’ve come up against, how can this make us better? And again we’re not going to come up against them every single week. I know we’re going to come up against a really good team in Aston Villa on Saturday who I went to watch on the weekend and they were brilliant, so it doesn’t get much easier, but we try and take some of the positives going forward.”

One positive on the night were two terrific strikes for midfielder Jordan Clark, his first goals since the Championship play-off final victory over Coventry City in May. The opener was a quite stunning curler into the top corner that left City stopper Stefan Ortega motionless, while his second wasn't too bad either, taking Ross Barkley’s terrific lofted pass and clinically smashing into the roof of the net.

Edwards added: “They were both brilliant goals weren’t they and at 3-2 you’re thinking, okay, we know they’re going to get chances still, it’s just whether we can keep them out and maybe get one or two of our own. The fourth one was a blow so soon after getting it to 3-2, but Clicker’s goals were great, it was nice to see the fans celebrating those moments at least.”