Hatters boss declares Manchester City gave Luton the 'hardest game' they have faced in the Premier League

Luton boss Rob Edwards stated that Manchester City gave his side the ‘hardest game’ they have faced all season when beating the Hatters 5-1 at the Etihad on Saturday.

Town travelled to the Etihad more in hope than expectation, as even the 3,000 loyal visiting supporters took their places before kick-off, were hoping their team could really just keep the score down on the afternoon, especially as many would have witnessed City putting six past Town at Kenilworth Road in the FA Cup back in February.

Those hopes looked ominous inside 90 seconds when Erling Haaland, who bagged five on that night in Bedfordshire, was sent clean through by Kevin De Bruyne. It looked like keeper Thomas Kaminski had saved the day, denying one of the most lethal strikers ever to grace the Premier League, but when Jeremy Doku’s rebound was also blocked, Haaland unleashed an acrobatic volley that was flying well wide, until hitting the unfortunately Daiki Hashioka in the face and dropping into the net.

To their credit, the Hatters did keep City out until half time, and over a quarter of an hour in the second period, but then the floodgates eventually did open, Mateo Kovacic, Haaland, Doku and Josko Gvardiol all scoring in the final 25 minutes to send Luton tumbling to their biggest defeat of the season. Town weren’t without their chances though, Cauley Woodrow hitting the bar and Alfie Doughty firing at Ederson’s legs, before Ross Barkley did find the net to make in front of those travelling fans.

With City having over 75 percent possession, with 37 shots, 13 of them on target, there was only ever going to be one winner as even though Luton have gone down 4-1 at Liverpool and Brighton this term, plus losing 3-1 to Aston Villa and beaten 2-0 by title challengers Arsenal recently, Edwards felt that City had been the toughest challenge his side have faced this term.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “It was the hardest game we’ve had all season. I haven’t seen the stats but it felt like the game was in our final third the whole time and we haven’t had that against anyone else really, maybe early on in the season when we were playing slightly differently. They forced us so low and we couldn’t get out, they were excellent.

"There was stuff out there we got wrong, there was lots there to like, the character, the defending at times, the goal was good, the lads tried to do the right thing, but City were just too good for us, they were too good. It was a tough start, but then we gathered ourselves, stayed in it. When they get the second goal just after the hour mark, we're still in the game and I've got to give the players credit for that.

"We had moments, Cauley hitting the bar, we kept going and Ross scored from a high press situation with a really good goal, but we didn’t get many moments. They were brilliant, they suffocated us and controlled the game.”

Edwards had prepared his players for what was going to be an unenviable and rather thankless task of chasing the ball around the vast spaces of the Etihad, especially with such a depleted squad, and it was to prove exactly what happened throughout the afternoon. The boss continued: “It was a long day for us. The vast majority of our work this week has been out of possession.

"We've not been able to work with the full team as we've not had everyone fit and available, so that was a challenge, but no excuse at all. A lot of our work had been out of possession, they forced pretty much everyone back and low, and they’re a brilliant team that are so hard to play against. The players gave everything, blocked things, defended well, Thomas had to make saves, we rode our luck a few times, but I'm sort of glad it’s done now.”

With Luton’s patched up defence facing an attack that contained Haaland and £55.5m winger Doku, the Belgian international had been well handled by Fred Onyedina on just his second top flight start until the final 15 minutes, when he won a penalty and then tricked his way through for a mesmerising fourth goal. Gvardiol managed to score a fifth, as Kaminski prevented it being 6-1 in injury time, Edwards having very little in terms of options to change things, with five teenagers on his bench, four who had never played in the Premier League until Joe Johnson made that three when introduced late on.

He added: “They wore us down, shifted us from side to side, side to side, looking for those spaces. One or two gaps opened up and they get Doku in a bigger space running at Fred and Fred, bless him, has given us everything, but that’s the level jump from where he’s been playing earlier in the season at Rotherham to this.

"He’s played Arsenal and City, it’s a huge jump and he's getting tired at that moment. A brilliant goal from Doku, they scored some fantastic goals as well. They wore us down in the end and got those goals late on which makes it look worse. I'm not saying they didn't deserve them as the performance from them was excellent and made it a long afternoon for us.”