(Football news) The Norwegian’s 20th hat-trick in club and national career was completed at Kenilworth Road with three assists from Kevin De Bruyne in the first forty minutes of play. This was his eighth triple since joining the Citizens, and his first one away from the Etihad Stadium.
A close-range finish in the fourth minute was followed by two nearly identical bursts through on goal with two very different finishes; in the first, Tim Krul was struck powerfully under the legs of the ball, and in the second, the ball was deftly dinked over the Hatters goalie to add a third.
After halftime, Jordan Clark gave Luton a small amount of hope with two incredible goals to cut the deficit to one. However, on the 55th minute, De Bruyne again set up Haaland for Manchester City’s fourth goal of the game from a few yards out, following a fantastic long-range through-ball from Kyle Walker.
Haaland scored his fifth three minutes later. This time, he got a feed from Bernardo Silva and fired a hard shot that went right past Krul’s gloves. Mateo Kovacic then joined in the action, swerving to score a 20-yard goal to add insult to injury for Luton and assist FA Cup winners Manchester City in securing a safe trip to the quarterfinals.
Not only has Haaland matched his five-goal haul from a Champions League tie against RB Leipzig last season, the 23-year-old has also become the first player for a top-flight club to score at least five goals in an FA Cup game since former Manchester United man George Best netted six against Northampton Town back in 1970.
City’s No.9 has also equalled an FA Cup club record as his five-star goal tally has put him alongside Frank Roberts and Bobby Marshall for the most goals netted by one player in a single match in the competition.
Haaland has now scored a remarkable 79 goals in 83 games since joining Pep Guardiola’s side in the summer of 2022, including 27 strikes in 30 appearances across all competitions so far this season. Haaland’s co-conspirator De Bruyne, on the other hand, has recorded 12 assists in every event this season despite missing nearly half of them due to injuries.
