Man City 5-1 Luton
Michael Plant gives his reaction as Manchester City move back to the top of the table thanks to a convincing win over Luton Town.
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00:00 Manchester City earned another important three points in the Premier League this afternoon, beating Luton 5-1.
00:06 It's a victory that means the City, at least temporarily, until Liverpool and Arsenal are in action tomorrow, move top of the table.
00:12 It's actually the first time they'll have spent a night at the League Summit since November, so quite a long run actually.
00:18 I was quite surprised when I heard that stat, but good performance from City, perhaps a scoreline that, I mean, maybe does a little bit of disservice to how well I actually think Luton defended for long periods of the game.
00:27 But they actually went behind Luton after just over a minute, I think, deflected a goal, Erling Haaland's shot deflected off a Luton defender, went in.
00:35 I thought at that stage Ralf really could run away with it, but after an hour it was still 1-0.
00:39 City managed 17 shots in the first half and the only goal actually came from that own goal, as I say.
00:45 But once they got under stride, City, I think Luton ultimately did tire.
00:49 They just couldn't keep pace with the relentless nature of City.
00:53 A couple of Luton defenders, you could really see them starting to fatigue in the latter stages.
00:58 It meant that it was, in the end, pretty straightforward for City.
01:02 Erling Haaland scored a penalty, but before that, Mateo Kovacic had volleyed in the second.
01:07 Jeremy Doku then scored late on.
01:09 And Josco Guardiola, fresh from his midweek goal against Real Madrid, he fired in a second of his City career in the injury time.
01:17 But good win for City, as I say, moves on top of the table.
01:19 Guardiola didn't seem particularly concerned about that. He said there's not a huge amount to think about.
01:23 With the fact that Liverpool and Arsenal are in action so quickly, I suppose he is right.
01:27 There's no real psychological advantage in that.
01:30 I suppose it does put more pressure on those two sides playing tomorrow,
01:34 but I suspect that by Sunday night City won't be top of the league anymore.
01:39 I think one of the big talking points here today, it's a day that really felt like City just wanted to get it out of the way
01:45 and focus on the Real Madrid match.
01:47 I don't mean that with disrespect to Luton, who I think came here and defended really well.
01:50 But Rob Edwards himself admitted that he came here knowing his side were going to lose.
01:55 And I suppose he was just happy enough with the performance to come away from it.
01:59 But the big talking point was John Stones not involved here today.
02:03 A really important player for City and would be a huge blow if he wasn't available for Real Madrid.
02:07 I think City said before the game that he wasn't fully fitting, but Guardiola after the game said it's a minor niggle.
02:14 He should be available for midweek. I don't think there was any concern from him being involved.
02:18 But the big plus actually was that City got a lot of their injured players back.
02:21 Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake were back on the bench. Phil Foden was as well.
02:25 And Kevin De Bruyne, who was sick in midweek, he played.
02:27 I thought he was absolutely fantastic today. Pulled the strings in midfield.
02:30 The standout player probably was Jeremy Doku playing on that left-hand side.
02:34 It's been a difficult couple of weeks I think for him really in terms of Jack Reilly who's come back in.
02:39 Again, a little reminder at this stage of the season who is number one in that position.
02:43 But Doku came in and had another good role here today I thought.
02:46 Important three points for Manchester City as I mentioned.
02:48 And his season goal back at the top of the league.
02:50 But now very much the focus is on Real Madrid and that huge game on Wednesday night.