At the Etihad there was an afternoon with a happy ending. City had no trouble beating Luton Town, which fell to the relegation places. The newly promoted side were no match for the reigning Premier League champions, although Guardiola watched with frustration as Haaland continued to have problems in front of goal. The Norwegian finally scored with a penalty in the 76th minute. With the game decided. Without particularly convincing. Without fearing Real Madrid, who will visit Manchester on Wednesday to close the key to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The one who did it was De Bruyne.
After missing the game at the Bernabéu due to food poisoning, he barely needed two minutes to make his mark. He sent a ball into space that Haaland did not know how to take advantage of. He missed in one-on-one with Kaminski, and his subsequent shot needed a rebound in the face of Hashioka, who was returning to his area, to open the scoring. It seemed like a long afternoon for Luton Town, who retreated and went back to avoid the rain of sticks that could come. Without Foden, without Grealish, and also without Rodri, City dominated, but had mercy. But with De Bruyne taking the reins. He dictated the rhythm with his baton. And his team shot 18 times in the first half alone, although it did not manage to extend its lead until the second half.
Kovacic, Rodri’s substitute, took an unstoppable volley off a corner in the 64th minute. From the front to the top corner to make it 2-0. The visitors then threatened with a reaction that was not such. Haaland found consolation in the 76th minute. Onyedinma brought down Doku in the area and the Norwegian scored from the spot. He got even. Guardiola sat him down shortly after. To Haaland and De Bruyne.
Related news
With the game already decided, Barkley scored the goal of honor for Luton Town. Although Doku in the 87th minute and Gvardiol in the 93rd minute closed the victory and confirmed their team’s climb to first place. Momentarily. City took advantage of the fact that their direct rivals, Arsenal and Liverpool, do not play until Sunday to take the lead. They are two points ahead of Sunday’s game, although the next objective for Guardiola’s team will be to try to reach the semifinals of the Champions League.
Follow the Diario AS channel on WhatsAppwhere you will find all the sport in a single space: the current news of the day, the agenda with the latest news of the most important sporting events, the most outstanding images, the opinion of the best AS brands, reports, videos, and some humor from time to time.
Changes
Cauley Woodrow (58′, Andros Townsend), Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (76′, Luke Berry), Oscar Bobb (80′, Erling Haaland), Sergio Gomez (80′, Kevin De Bruyne), Zack Nelson (87′, Fred Onyedinma), Joe Johnson (88′, Jordan Clark)
Goals
1-0, 1′: Daiki Hashioka2-0, 63′: Kovacic3-0, 75′: Erling Braut Haaland3-1, 80′: Barkley4-1, 86′: Jeremy Doku5-1, 92′: Guardiol
Cards
Arbitro: John Brooks
VAR referee: Chris Kavanagh, Daniel Cook
De Bruyne (42′, Yellow)
Classification Classification PT PJ PG PE PP 1
73
32
22
7
3
2
71
31
22
5
4
3
71
31
21
8
2
4
60
32
18
6
8
5
60
32 18 6 8 Classification PT PJ PG PE PP 16
27
31
9
8
14
17
26
33
7
9
17
18
25
33
6
7
20
19
20
33
4
8
21
20
16
32
3
7
22
2024-04-13 16:01:41
#Bruyne #scares #Madrid
