MATCH REPORT AND PLAYER RATINGS - MANCHESTER CITY 5-1 LUTON TOWN

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Manchester City thrashed Luton Town in an excellent victory at the Etihad Stadium, which takes them to the top of Premier League after losses for Liverpool and Arsenal.

Crystal Palace and Aston Villa came to lend City a helping hand by eating Liverpool 1-0 and Arsenal 2-0 respectively in Sunday's action.

The Eagles, thanks to an early goal scored by reported City target from last summer Eberechi Eze, appear to have given Pep Guardiola's side a huge helping hand in the title race with that result, with Liverpool now falling two points behind City after being three points ahead at the start of last week.

The Gunners are level on points with Liverpool after late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins gave Villa the victory in a game in which they were probably the better team.

But results from other sides are meaningless if City don't do the business in the games they play, which they certainly did do against the Hatters.

They took the lead inside the opening two minutes, after a wild attempt at an overhead kick from Erling Haaland smacked the face of poor Daiki Hashioka and looped into the back of the net, just seconds after the Norwegian striker squandered a huge one vs one opportunity.

The rest of the second half was frustrating for City, as Luton sat deep with a narrow low block. With Jeremy Doku the only natural winger on the pitch, the Blues struggled to consistently create and make good usage of the wide areas.

However, they were much more penetrating against Luton than when they faced a similar difficulty against Arsenal.

Matheus Nunes hit the post from a tight angle, whilst Josko Gvardiol headed just past the far post after an excellent set piece delivery from Kevin de Bruyne.

The second half opened up somewhat, after City doubled their lead thanks to a ferocious strike from Mateo Kovacic from the edge of the box following a short corner routine.

If that wasn't the nail in Luton's coffin, City's third certainly was, as Haaland emphatically dispatched a penalty kick after Doku was felled in the box.

City were flowing, and Luton looked like conceding every time the Premier League holders attacked. But it was Rob Edwards' side that scored next, as Ross Barkley pounced on Matheus Nunes' slip and slotted the ball past returning Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson.

There were a few nerves going around the stadium very briefly, especially seeing as Haaland and De Bruyne had just been substituted, but City continued in their stride and continued to cause chaos.

Doku scored his fifth goal of the season - and his first in three months - just a few moments later, as he collected a pass from Josko Gvardiol, skipped in between two defenders and slotted into the far corner.

The Belgian winger returned the favour to the Gvardiol in injury time, by laying the ball off to him on the edge of the box to unleash an unstoppable right footed effort into the top left corner - his second wonder goal in a week.

City's performance was excellent; they smothered the game from the very start, hardly giving Luton a sniff.

De Bruyne played well after missing out on the 3-3 draw against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu due to injury, and Gvardiol continued his fine run of form, which should see him start against Los Blancos on Wednesday night.

Rodri, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva were all granted complete rest, whilst it was also refreshing to see Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker back on the City bench after recent muscular issues.

Kovacic and Rico Lewis protected the ball really well, and deserve to start against Madrid, but are unfortunately unlikely to do so due to a number of excellent options in their positions.

Nunes impressed too, but his slip in the build up for the Luton goal, as well as one at the start of the second half during an exceptionally dangerous City attack, will be all anyone remembers when looking back on this game.

The next two games will be essential in City's season, as it could determine whether they're in the driving seat to win back to back trebles, or whether they're left fighting to win just the Premier League.

They face Real Madrid at the Etihad on Wednesday, a match they're favourites in, as they know that a win at a ground that Carlo Ancelotti's side have never won at will secure their place in the Champions League semi finals, and knock out their biggest rivals for the competition to boot.

After that, they're up against Chelsea at Wembley in the FA Cup final, a fixture City have historically struggled in after their yearly Champions League quarter final hangover.

But the second leg is at home this season, meaning less time will be taken up travelling which should allow the players to recover more quickly, giving City as good a chance as they could've had to progress to the next round.

With City's two closest contenders dropping points, things are looking good for the Blues as they strive for the unthinkable - two consecutive trebles.

Here are the player ratings for the thumping victory against Luton: Ederson - 7/10 - Was very good to have him back after his month long injury, despite Stefan Ortega-Moreno's brilliance in his absence. His drilled low passes into midfield can be matched by no other goalkeeper in world football, and his shot stopping was good when it needed to be.

Lewis - 7.5/10 - Kept the ball very well under pressure a lot of times, buying fouls and moving it around in extremely tight places all across the pitch, which was evident in the build up for City's fourth goal.

Akanji - 8/10 - Really good with the limited amount of defending he had to do, and passed the ball well as per usual.

Dias - 7.5/10 - Like Akanji, Dias was super aggressive in his defending and passed the ball well, but could potentially have done a bit more to stop Ross Barkley from shooting for Luton's goal.

Gvardiol - 9/10 - Had an imperious game at left back, with a really complete performance involving top notch defending and passing. He capped off his performance with an exceptional goal from the edge of the box, which is becoming a trademark of his as of late!

Kovacic - 9/10 - Dictated the play from deep and scored a magnificent goal in what was yet another excellent outing from the Croatian midfielder.

Nunes - 7/10 - Had a decent overall game with his passing, ball carrying and ball winning all very good. However, he cost City a goal scored and a goal conceded by slipping and losing the ball at the final moment, which has essentially confirmed that he won't start in any of City's big matches in the Premier League or Champions League.

De Bruyne - 7.5/10 - City's best player in the first half, as he created chances against Luton's deep block. Went a bit quieter in the second half and misplaced his final ball a few times, but got his well deserved rest ahead of Madrid on Wednesday.

Alvarez - 6.5/10 - Worked very hard and looked good with the ball at his first on the outside of the box, but his end product was very poor in the final third.

Haaland - 7/10 - Missed a big chance (which, to be fair to him, was one engineered by himself) but tucked his penalty away well, and is a constant menace just by being on the pitch.

Doku - 9/10 - Had a pretty good first 75 minutes of the game, in which he got on the ball a lot and made good decisions, but he really dominated the game in the final 15 minutes, coming away with a remarkable goal and an assist showcasing his improved decision making in front of goal.

Substitutes:

Bobb - 7/10 - Looked bright off the bench, and could've won a penalty had he decided not to keep his feet and try to score in the box rather than go down after contact from a Luton defender.

Gomez - 6.5/10 - Didn't do much in his short time on the pitch, but played his part well in the build up for City's fourth goal.