Late goals sees valiant Luton suffer another heavy defeat at the hands of Manchester City

Luton once again felt the wrath of a high class Manchester City side who produced yet another utterly dominant display to dish out the Hatters biggest defeat of the season this afternoon.

Although the final scoreline looks like Town were handed a pasting, it wasn't until the final 15 minutes that the hosts made their extra class shine through, scoring three times to send Pep Guardiola's side back to the top of the table. With Teden Mengi absent due to the injury he picked up against AFC Bournemouth last weekend, Luton were able to field one recognised centre half with Reece Burke fit enough to start, Luke Berry and Fred Onyedinma coming into the team, as Issa Kabore was ineligible against his parent club.

Much of the focus would have been on making it as difficult as possible for the hosts to break through, but Town couldn't manage that for more than 60 seconds, as just like in the FA Cup game, the Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland combination that had wreaked havoc back then, was too much. De Bruyne was the architect, his through ball catching the visitors' defence completely disorganised, the Norwegian racing straight through the middle.

Thomas Kaminski stood up well to parry the first shot, with Jeremy Doku's rebound also repelled by a defender. The ball dropped for Haaland though whose volley was going well wide, only to then crash flush into the face of the unfortunate Daiki Hashioka which changed its course from going out for a throw to nestle into the corner of the net and instantly make the visitors' long afternoon look that that bit lengthier.

They managed to keep the treble winners out without too many alarms for the next 10 minutes, Kaminski parrying from Josko Gvardiol, as Julian Alvarez's cleverly drilled corner saw De Bruyne sky over. City were toying with the Hatters at times before looking for the killer pass which they thought they had found when releasing Doku on the left who picked out Matheus Nunes arriving in the area, Kaminski saving at the second attempt.

Alfie Doughty had one burst forward only to see the move break down on the edge of the box, De Bruyne continuing in his quarterback role, finding Haaland for a volley that was over, seeing his free kick also headed wide at the back post. With 20 minutes gone, De Bruyne went for goal himself, tamely shooting at his fellow countryman, as did another Belgian international in Doku, Kaminski able to gather both attempts with little trouble.

Town's defence certainly weren't giving up the fight, Hashioka repelling one effort and then Burke throwing himself in front of Haaland's blast, the overworked Kaminski getting down low to deny Ruben Dias from 20 yards. City kept Luton hemmed in, looking for that chink in the armour, as De Bruyne thought he had found it when slipping Nunes through, the forward's low effort hitting the outside of the post.

Luton did have the luxury of a first corner on 28 minutes, but they couldn't make the most of it and were soon back in their own half defending their lines once more as the City attack was just machine-like in its relentlessness. Rob Edwards' side stuck to the tasks manfully, Hashioka with a fine clearance almost off his own line, Kaminski pawing De Bruyne's curler away and then Kovacic lofting into the stands as Town kept the deficit to one in the opening 45 minutes.

The visitors almost made just as bad a start to the second half as they did to the first, Ederson unfurling a tremendous raking pass that evaded the stretching Burke, putting Nunes clean through, only to lose his footing which allowed Onyedinma to speed back and clear the danger. The pattern was to remain the same though, City having a growing monopoly on possession and Town having all 10 outfield players back defending their goal, Hashioka making another fine block and then Dias dragging wide.

Dias was looking the most likely to add to the hosts' advantage, missing by inches from outside the box, while some more intricate approach play was hammered wide by Alvarez. Kovacic's drive deflected behind via Burke, a quick VAR check for handball coming and going, as City finally had the second goal they had been threatening on 64 minutes when the set-piece reached Kovacic and he hammered an unstoppable half volley which Kaminski couldn't keep out this time.

With Cauley Woodrow now on for Townsend, Luton had the chance to get themselves on the scoresheet on 66 minutes, Onyedinma tenaciously getting the better of Gviarol on the right and pulling the ball back to the unmarked substitute, who took his effort first time, only to see it unluckily clip the bar and bounce away.

Despite falling two behind, it still didn't burst the dam that was Luton's resistance, Nunes having a go from range, easily plucked out of the sky by Kamsinski. As the game wore on, Doku's influence grew and grew, the winger taking advantage of Luton's tiring legs as he went over Onyedinma's stretching challenge inside the area for a penalty on 76 minutes that was expertly tucked away by Haaland.

Town then made a momentous change moments later, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu replacing Berry for his 400th Hatters appearance, only the 11th player in the club’s proud history to achieve such a feat, not bad for a man who began his Town career at Staines in the FA Trophy well over a decade ago. The long-serving midfielder almost had a goal to celebrate too, slamming into the side-netting after Ederson had saved well from Doughty, but Luton did give their 3,000-plus travelling fans something to celebrate with nine minutes left, Barkley nicking the ball away high up, side-stepping past his man and then coolly locating the bottom corner.

It almost gave Town the last goal that the boss craves, but with Doku in scintillating form, he made it 4-1 when turning Onyedinma inside and out, and after teenager Joe Johnson was given his Premier League debut along with youngster Zack Nelson’s second outing in the top flight, Gvardiola slammed home a fifth in stoppage time.

City: Ederson, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland (Oscar Bobb 81), Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne (C Sergio Gomez 81), Julian Alvarez, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akankji, Matheus Nunes, Rico Lewis. Subs not used: Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Jack Grealish, Rodri, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Fred Onyednima (Zack Nelson 88), Reece Burke, Daiki Hashioka, Alfie Doughty, Ross Barkley, Jordan Clark (Joe Johnson 88), Luke Berry(Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 77), Andros Townsend (Cauley Woodrow 58), Tahith Chong, Carlton Morris (C). Subs not used: James Shea, Tim Krul, Axel Piesold, Taylan Harris, Christian Chigozie. Referee: John Brookes. Booked: De Bruyne 42.