Man City survive major Luton scare as Pep Guardiola fumes in comeback victory
In pictures: Luton v Man City
Manchester City ended a miserable run of four Premier League matches without a win by coming from behind to beat Luton Town 2-1 at Kenilworth Road. Pep Guardiola’s side clinched victory in the absence of Erling Haaland to keep the pressure on Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa in the race for the title, as Express Sport takes you through four key talking points from the contest…
City survive major scare
Given the difference in riches between the sides, many expected Kenilworth Road to be the perfect venue for City to rediscover their usual fine form. But Luton certainly didn’t make it easy on the reigning treble winners.
A first-half header from Elijah Adebayo sent City into the break one goal down and staring down the barrel of a seven-point gap between themselves and table-toppers Liverpool.
The Sky Blues needed no extra incentive to come out swinging in the second period, and goals from Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish sealed a nail-biting comeback triumph.
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Pep Guardiola fumes
Tensions ran high for the City boss until his side eventually clawed back the deficit. Leading up to Sunday’s clash, Guardiola admitted that he must be doing something wrong for results to plummet in the way they have over the past few weeks.
His revamped tactical set-up seemed to be working as City passed the ball around with confidence during the first period, which made Adebayo’s headed opener even more frustrating.
For reasons unknown, Guardiola was seen berating fourth official Craig Pawson shortly after the goal went in. The former Barcelona manager then stormed onto the pitch at half-time to continue his fiery tirade, and he goaded Luton fans with hand gestures after Grealish’s winner.
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Duo inspire comeback
City’s last five defeats have all come without Rodri, and when the Spaniard is in the team, they are unbeaten in 44 matches. That’s exactly how important he is, and a controlled performance in the middle of the park helped the visitors to remain composed and methodically fight their way back into the game.
Bernardo Silva is another experienced head who stood up to be counted, and a mesmerising back-heeled pass in the first half was supplemented by a superb finish in the second, as he curled into the far post to give Thomas Kaminski no chance.
Tactical tweak pays off
With his increasingly familiar 3-2-4-1 system becoming less and less effective, Guardiola wheeled out a new-look formation against the Hatters as City lined up in a 4-2-3-1.
Kyle Walker and Josko Gvardiol played as advanced full-backs, with Mateo Kovacic joining Rodri at the base of midfield. In Haaland’s absence, Julian Alvarez was left to spearhead City’s attack, with Phil Foden operating in the number 10 role.
Although it was far from a faultless display, it proved enough to get the Sky Blues over the line and send them back to Manchester with three points in the bag.
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