Erling Haaland roared back to his best form with a five-goal salvo as Manchester City thumped Luton Town 6-2 at Kenilworth Road to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup on Tuesday.
Luton had no answer to the marauding Norwegian who bagged his eighth City hat trick before half-time and then scored twice more after the break to kill off a stirring Luton revival.
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Haaland is the first player to score five or more goals in an FA Cup match for a top-division club since George Best netted six for Manchester United against Northampton Town in 1970, according to Stats Perform.
The 23-year-old Haaland’s first four goals were all created by Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian is just the second player to assist four goals in an FA Cup match for a Premier League club since 2004-05, following on from former City teammate Ilkay Gündogan in 2019, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
Mateo Kovacic also got on the scoresheet for holders City who are unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions.
Luton did threaten an unlikely comeback when Jordan Clark found the top corner with a sublime effort on the stroke of halftime and netted again early in the second half to make it 3-2. But a strong City side instantly found another gear to cruise into the hat for the last eight.
The only blemish for City, who face Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, was an injury to Jack Grealish who was forced off in the opening period.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.