ERLING HAALAND made history as he scored five goals in Manchester City’s 6-2 FA Cup win over Luton.
Kevin De Bruyne also helped himself to four assists in the incredible match.
Erling Haaland made history with five goals for Man City against Luton
He became the first City ace to score five in an FA Cup tie for nearly 100 years
Kevin De Bruyne helped himself to no less than four assists
But it was Haaland who entered the record books as he became the first Man City player since 1926 to score five goals in an FA Cup game.
Frank Roberts was the City ace who nearly 100 years ago hit five in an 11-4 thrashing of Crystal Palace.
Barely three minutes had passed when De Bruyne, having received a clever pass from Matheus Nunes, had far too much time to pick out the lurking Haaland who got in front of Teden Mengi to score from close range.
Following a huge punt from Stefan Ortega, Haaland and De Bruyne combined again with the City striker sticking a shot through the legs of Tim Krul.
Luton’s no 2 keeper stopped the Norwegian from scoring a hat-trick inside 25 minutes and Krul then made a decent double save to deny both De Bruyne and Haaland.
Moments after Jeremy Doku replaced an upset Grealish, De Bruyne sent Haaland clear – again , and he clipped the ball over the advancing Krul who had committed himself too early.
Equally, City keeper Ortega did not stand a chance in stopping an absolute belter of a goal from Clark from 25 yards.
Barkley played a key role in that chance and then delivered a clever pass for Clark to control the ball with his chest before smashing a shot past Ortega for 3-2.
Yet that second goal was a case of poking the beast and City dished out a few more lessons in clinical finishing. De Bruyne squared for Haaland to have a tap-in in front of the visiting fans for 4-2.
And then, for once, De Bruyne let someone else have a chance as it was left to Bernardo Silva to pick out Haaland who smashed another shot through Krul’s legs.
And finally, we actually had someone else score a City goal, with Kovacic scoring from outside the area although Krul should have saved.
Jordan Clark helped himself to two goals for Luton
Mateo Kovacic blasted in City’s sixth goal at Kenilworth Road
The only negative aspect of the night for City was an injury to Jack Grealish who looked utterly devastated when being replaced in the first half and used his training jacket to cover his face.
Jack Grealish limped off the field with an injury
It would, of course, be a huge blow for City but also England to have Grealish suffer a spell on the sidelines. Particularly as he has struggled this season and has been eclipsed by Phil Foden who was an unused substitute tonight.
But this easy win for the reigning FA Cup holders was all about Haaland, again, who has now scored 27 goals in 29 games this season.
He will not match last season’s tally of 52 goals in 53 games, surely. But then again, a few performances like this and he might come close.
You simply cannot rule anything out when you are focusing on this freak of nature.
And to think that only a few days prior, Haaland had nine opportunities to score against Chelsea and Guardiola had to defend a player who was sure to shatter every scoring record in existence.
Haaland was in sumptuous form with his five strikes
Luton won’t be overly concerned about this outcome because they have given themselves an opportunity to remain in the League.
City now has to prepare for a crucial run of five Premier League games, all of which will see them take on teams in the top seven.
This includes a trip to Liverpool following the midweek home Champions League match against Copenhagen, but more importantly, it also features Manchester United on Sunday. What a fantastic fight that will be.