Manchester City ended their miserable run of four Premier League matches without a win by coming from behind to beat Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Victory for Pep Guardiola’s side keeps 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 finest form. Luton certainly didn’t make it easy on the reigning treble winners, however.
A first-half header from Elijah Adebayo sent City into the half-time break one goal down, and staring down the barrell of a seven-point gap between themselves and table-toppers Liverpool.
But the Sky Blues came out swinging in the second period, with goals from Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish sealing a nail-biting 2-1 victory for the visitors.
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 that 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 painful.
For reasons unknown, Guardiola was then seen berating fourth official Craig Pawson, and he stormed onto the pitch at half-time to continue his fiery tirade.
Duo inspire comeback
City’s last five defeats have all come with Rodri out of the team, and when the Spaniard plays, they are unbeaten in 44 matches. That’s just how important he is, and a controlled performance in the middle of the park helped the visitors to remain composed to methodically fight their way back into the game.
Bernardo Silva is another experienced head who carried City through, 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 with an accurate strike.
Tactical tweak pays off
In the knowledge that his increasingly familiar 3-2-4-1 system was becoming less and less effective, Guardiola wheeled out a changed system 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 Erling 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.
