Jérémy Doku shines as Manchester City Move Top of the Premier League With Thrashing of Luton Town

Jérémy Doku scored one goal and won a penalty as Manchester City hammered relegation-threatened Luton Town 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola’s men were dominant from start to finish, and took the lead inside two minutes when Erling Haaland’s wild volley struck Daiki Hashioka in the face and flew into the top corner. Town then defended resolutely until the 64th minute when Mateo Kovacic volleyed into the roof of the net from the edge of the box. 

Doku was wiped out by Fred Onyedinma on 76 minutes before Haaland rolled in from the spot, and after Ross Barkley pulled one back for the visitors, Doku scored an excellent goal of his own, with Joško Gvardiol netting his first Premier League goal in stoppage time.

Having pushed his players to their limits in the 3-3 draw at Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday night, Guardiola rested John Stones, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish for the visit of lowly Luton – the Bedfordshire club’s first trip to City’s stadium since a Conference play-off final defeat to AFC Wimbledon in May 2011.

Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne had missed the thriller at the Bernabeu through illness, but was named in the starting XI against the Hatters, and he influenced the game immediately by sending Haaland through on goal. Town goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski stood tall and blocked with his legs, but after Doku’s follow-up attempt was blocked by Alfie Doughty, Haaland volleyed flush into the face of Hashioka and into the top corner. 

Rob Edwards’ Luton have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks, and they defended valiantly for the rest of the first half, with Kaminski being drawn into a couple of routine saves and Matheus Nunes striking the base of the post from an acute angle after receiving a pass from Rico Lewis. 

Luton have tried to play open, expansive football against even the best teams in the country this season, but made the sensible decision to try to frustrate City with a low defensive block. That approach was largely successful until the 64th minute when Julian Alvarez took a corner quickly and fizzed a pass across to the edge of the box where Kovacic slashed a right-footed volley into the top of Kaminski’s net. 

Even at two nil down, Luton had to choose their moments to attack wisely, and narrowly missed a chance to halve the deficit when Fred Onyedinma robbed Gvardiol on the right flank. Onyedinma then centred for substitute Cauley Woodrow, who got underneath the shot and curled onto the crossbar with City keeper Stefan Ortega rooted to the spot. 

Onyedinma had endured a torrid afternoon due to Doku’s direct running, and the Luton full-back was finally lured into a clumsy siding tackle on the Belgian on 76 minutes, giving referee John Brooks no choice but to award City a penalty. From the spot, Haaland rolled into the bottom left corner, deceiving Kaminski who dived in the opposite direction. 

With the game already won, City afforded Luton more possession in the final 10 minutes, and Town carved out another opportunity to score when Woodrow received Barkley’s quick throw and flicked through his legs for Doughty who drove towards the bottom corner, but was denied by the outstretched left leg of Ortega. Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu – who was making his 400th Luton appearance – chested the loose ball but was unable to celebrate his landmark game with a goal, smashing into the side-netting at Ortega’s near post. 

Town did pull a goal back on 81 minutes when Nunes miscontrolled Ortega’s goal kick and Barkley pounced, rounding the Portuguese who slipped to the turf before performing two stepovers, shifting the ball onto his left foot and striking across goal into the bottom right corner, giving the 3,000 travelling fans something to cheer. 

Doku added a sensational fourth City goal with three minutes of normal time remaining. He shimmied left and right, terrorising Onyedinma again before shifting the ball onto his right foot, curling through the legs of Hashioka and in off the far post. Four-one to City. 

In one more exhilarating act of trickery, Doku then pulled three Luton players towards him as he dribbled down the left flank. City’s number 11 then rolled into Gvardiol who had ventured upfield. From just outside the box, the Croatian defender took a touch and curled a shot into the top left corner with his weaker right foot.

Incredibly, the home sections of the ground were half-empty as Gvardiol netted his maiden Premier League goal. Somehow Guardiola’s City are so good that they have made winning mundane, and on Sunday afternoon they regained poll position to win their fourth title in succession when both Liverpool and Arsenal fell to shock home defeats against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa. 

For Luton meanwhile, they remain in 18th position, one point and one place below Nottingham Forest who drew at home to Wolves. The Hatters now have five games to save their season and preserve their Premier League status, starting with a home fixture against Brentford on Saturday.