Haaland scored five goals to equal a Club record for most goals in an FA Cup tie with the first four all coming from De Bruyne assists as we made it through to the sixth round for the seventh time in eight attempts under Guardiola.
The pair have now combined 16 times as supplier and finisher but Guardiola also pointed out the ability of their team-mates to stretch the Hatters and create the opportunity for the City duo.
“I think Erling needs a guy with the vision, the quality and generosity,” the boss said. “Kevin is a less selfish player in front of the goal, and if he could have helped him score another one, he would do it.
“And Kevin needs the movement from Erling but of course we know how aggressive they are.
“Stefan [Ortega Moreno] was amazing with the long passes – not just for Erling – to the players in between.
“As much as we can we make every player has three or four touches and we can make extra passes and move the structure that they have and they did it really well.”
The result and performance was the perfect confidence boost ahead of the Manchester Derby on Sunday although Guardiola said it will not be a similar match against United.
“It’s a completely different game – when you have these up and down transitions when you can have metres behind them to run it’s difficult to control, but they have courage to do it,” he added.
“What can I say? The passing was good, the goals were good and we had two or three more chances to score more. The players played really well.”
LUTON 2-6 CITY | PICTURE GALLERY
Haaland, who also scored five against RB Leipzig, was replaced with 13 minutes remaining and the City boss said it was more important to keep him fresh for the weekend rather than try to score more goals.
“United will be completely different they defend differently and have experienced players,” Guardiola said.
“Two days off now to refresh our minds and legs and prepare for the game.”
