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MANCHESTER, England : Champions Manchester City provisionally climbed to the top of the Premier League table after thrashing lowly Luton Town 5-1 on Saturday, with Daiki Hashioka scoring an own goal off his face and Erling Haaland netting his 20th league goal of the season.
Pep Guardiola’s men have 73 points with six games remaining in a rip-roaring three-way title race, two points ahead of both Arsenal and Liverpool, who can climb over City with victories in their respective games on Sunday. Relegation-threatened Luton Town are 18th and a point shy of the safety zone.
City got on the scoreboard inside 70 seconds after Jeremy Doku’s shot was deflected to Haaland, whose volley smashed hard off poor Hashioka’s face and into the net.
Mateo Kovacic doubled City’s lead in the 64th minute, picking the ball up at the edge of the box and launching it into the top corner. Haaland then scored from the penalty spot in the 76th after Doku was taken down in the area.
Ross Barkley capitalised on a City defensive blunder to pull one back in the 84th minute before Doku’s strike to the far corner after a dazzling dribbling display made it 4-1. Josko Gvardiol completed the one-sided contest by netting seconds before the final whistle.
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