The midfielder was joined by eight-year-old fan Billie as part of the City in the Community takeover at the game and she also quizzed Mateo afterwards.
Kovacic had blasted in City’s second in the second half after Daiki Hashioka’s own goal had us ahead after just two minutes.
Erling Haaland‘s penalty made it three, before Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol found the net after Ross Barkley had pulled a goal back for the visitors.
CITY+ | SIGN UP TO ACCESS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Kovacic, who also netted a spectacular goal in the FA Cup victory over the Hatters this season, was elated after his first Etihad Stadium goal, which also saw him named as Player of the Match.
“[It was an] amazing day,” he said. “But not easy. It was a tough game. But we had a good game, kept going, doing our job.
“In the end we scored five goals, I think we could have had even more. I’m happy with the three points and we have to keep going now.
“It’s very nice to score. For me it’s not the most important but obviously it’s nice to be on the scoresheet with my family upstairs. So it was nice to score.
“But like I always say, the team is the most important. When the team performs well and wins it’s a good day for our club.”
Kovacic also touched on his compatriot Gvardiol’s splendid strike, spoke about playing in defensive midfield in the absence of Rodrigo and looked ahead to Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
And then he answered some fantastic questions from Billie discussing his early days as a footballer.
