A couple of minutes before the hour, Haaland had scored his fifth to ease City clear of a Luton mini-revival that felt like a mirage. The double hat-trick was on, which is a thing in park football at under-10 level but really should not be in the FA Cup fifth round.
The last player to score six in this competition for a top-flight club was George Best in Manchester United's 8-2 win over Northampton in 1970 and Pep Guardiola left Haaland on for another 19 minutes to see whether he could emulate the great man.
Putting Haaland straight into cold storage before Sunday's Premier League derby with United was not a part of Guardiola's thinking. Haaland, though, would call it a day at five. It was another performance of breathtaking power and pace, plus the kind of ruthlessness we have come to associate with him.
Kevin De Bruyne teed him up for the first four while Mateo Kovacic slammed home the sixth as City eased into the quarter-finals. Luton were game, Jordan Clark scoring their goals - the first a belter from distance - but the night was all about one man.
Haaland scored five against RB Leipzig in last season's Champions League and such is his thirst to plunder that he looked a little nonplussed to see his number go up. There was applause for him from some Luton fans as he walked off. They were happy to see the back of him.
This story is from the February 28, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the February 28, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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