Manchester City needed a second-half comeback to beat Luton Town at Kenilworth Road and end their four-match winless run in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s side were facing back-to-back league defeats for the first time since December 2019 when Elijah Adebayo gave Luton the lead in first-half stoppage time, rising highest at the back post to head in Andros Townsend’s cross.
But Bernardo Silva latched on to a loose ball in the penalty area and equalised for the visitors with a fine curling effort.
Three minutes later City completed the turnaround when Jack Grealish converted Julian Alvarez’s low cross.
Victory means the champions stay fourth, four points behind leaders Liverpool, while third-from-bottom Luton are now four points off safety following Everton’s win over Chelsea.
City record first league win in five weeks
City came into Sunday’s fixture on the back of their joint-longest run without a win under Guardiola.
While key players Rodri and Grealish returned after missing Wednesday’s loss to Aston Villa through suspension, leading scorer Erling Haaland was absent having picked up a foot injury in training.
At half-time there was a real sense of jeopardy for City, who would have been seven points off Liverpool with a loss.
But in the second half, despite not having Haaland’s imposing presence up front, City returned to their ruthless selves.
Just before their goals they hit the bar through Ruben Diaz’s thunderous shot following Nathan Ake’s cutback.
And once they took the lead they held Luton at arm’s length to record their first league win since beating Bournemouth 6-1 on 4 November.
Luton slip further adrift
Luton have faced last season’s top two in the space of five days and have taken the lead in both matches only to be stung by second-half comebacks.
It is a testament to how far the Hatters have risen up the football pyramid in recent seasons, and a bouncing Kenilworth Road was again witness to Luton going ahead against a powerhouse of English football.
However, outside of Adebayo’s goal, the hosts were limited to half-chances. And, despite two promising performances, Rob Edwards’ side have lost their past three matches and won only one of their past 10.
A gap is also re-emerging between the bottom three and the rest of the division. At half-time on Sunday Luton were a point above the relegation zone in the as-things-stand table.
But their loss, coupled with Everton’s win, means Luton ended the day further adrift in the bottom three and in desperate need of points.
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