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• Man City refused to feel sorry for themselves after Luton opener – Pep Guardiola

  Pep Guardiola said Manchester City refused to “feel sorry for ourselves” after going in a goal down at half-time against Luton before hitting back to claim a 2-1 Premier League triumph at Kenilworth Road.

  The hosts looked on course to inflict a fifth-consecutive winless game on City when Elijah Adebayo rose at the back post to head in Andros Townsend’s cross on the stroke of the interval.

  It was just reward for an opening period in which they had weathered the champions’ early pressure well, with Guardiola’s side resorting to shooting from distance after goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski had denied them with a string of fine saves, most impressively from Phil Foden’s low drive.

  And Rob Edwards’ side held their lead beyond the hour mark as a stunning victory appeared within reach, until the champions turned the game on its head inside of three whirlwind minutes.

  First, Bernardo Silva pounced on a loose ball to lash home an equaliser into the bottom corner before Jack Grealish stabbed between the legs of Kaminski to send Luton to their second narrow home defeat in five days.

  And Guardiola said his players did not allow the prospect of losing for the second time in a week and ending the weekend seven points off the Premier League summit to distract them in the second half.

  “The most important thing to change the dynamic is winning games,” he said. “That helps a lot.

  “We didn’t get results sometimes when we deserved, but that’s what it is.

  “Today was a good test for the fact that we played a really, really good first half against this type of team, this type of stadium. We did it perfect. We concede not much, created enough chances to score.”

  City went down 1-0 away to Aston Villa on Wednesday having previously dropped points in draws with Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea.

  Victory at Luton ensured they stayed in touch with the sides above them in the table – the Reds, Villa and last season’s runners-up Arsenal – and cut the gap at the top to four points.

  Guardiola admitted he had been concerned by the prospect of failing to win for a fifth game in a row when Adebayo headed Luton in front.

  “I thought about that,” he said. “But I said to (the players) ‘what do we have do to, feel sorry for ourselves?’ We don’t have to feel sorry for ourselves. It’s football, it’s life, it’s happened.

  “What are we going to do? Complain about being unlucky? Strikers, be more aggressive, score goals guys. Defend better the cross in the last minute and be positive.

  “We have to remember ourselves. Big characters, big teams, like this team is. They are defined in these situations.

  “I don’t like to see the players when we win 3-0, 4-0 in 10, 14, 15, 18 games in a row. That doesn’t define who we really are. Four games without winning – 1-0 (down) in a tough stadium.

  “They don’t need to prove to me what they are capable of, because they are an extraordinary group of players and characters. But the competition demands to prove it again. It’s normal to say ‘City are not the same – it’s over’.

  “Yeah, that’s nice, let them prove we want to still be there. Let’s do it. It’s so nice. We need that.”

  Guardiola confirmed that top-scorer Erling Haaland, who missed the game with a stress fracture to his foot, would likely also miss the midweek trip to Belgrade to face Red Star and next weekend’s clash with Crystal Palace.

  Winger Jeremy Doku was also missing against Luton.

  The manager added: “Week by week will dictate how (Haaland) feels. Doku is muscular, it’s not a big issue like Kevin (De Bruyne) was.”

  Luton boss Edwards reflected on disappointing result that nevertheless proved his team were moving in the right direction.

  “If we continue to perform the way we have this week, we can achieve something really special this year,” he said. “I like the way the team is going. I love how hard they’re working for each other.

  “I think we’re starting to change the narrative around Luton Town Football Club.”

• Stoke sack Alex Neil after recent defeat left them 20th in Championship table

  Stoke have sacked manager Alex Neil with the club sitting 20th in the Sky Bet Championship.

  The Potters were beaten 1-0 at home by fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, which was a fourth-straight defeat in a six-match winless run.

  Neil was appointed at the end of August 2022 after leaving Sunderland, but the former Norwich and Preston boss was unable to mount a sustained promotion challenge, with Stoke eventually finishing 16th last season.

  Martin Canning has also left his position, with Paul Gallagher installed as caretaker manager ahead of the home game against Swansea on Tuesday night.

  Alex Morris and former Potters defender Ryan Shawcross are also part of the interim backroom team.

  Stoke chairman John Coates said on the club’s official website: “Alex is a man of absolute integrity who has given his all for Stoke City and we would like to thank him for his hard work during his time with the club.

  “We are grateful for the building blocks he has helped put in place in bringing together a group of players in whom we have a huge amount of faith regarding their ability to turn things around this season and who can help us achieve longer-term success.

  “However, with the way the results have been so far, we have made the difficult decision to seek a new direction for the team at this time.

  “Nothing matters to me more than the success of our club and we are now working towards the appointment of Alex’s successor.”

• Marco Silva hails ‘brilliant performance’ from Fulham in West Ham romp

  Fulham boss Marco Silva hailed his side’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham as even better than the display that had seen them beat Nottingham Forest by the same scoreline four days earlier.

  The floodgates have certainly opened for the Whites in recent weeks, with David Moyes’ men the latest side to be put to the sword as five different scorers struck in a fine home win.

  Raul Jimenez opened the scoring to take his personal tally to four in five games having previously not scored a Premier League goal since March 2022, when he was a Wolves player.

  Willian and Tosin Adarabioyo goals then had the hosts coasting at the break before a fine effort from substitute Harry Wilson and late effort from Carlos Vinicius added the gloss.

  Jimenez’s upturn in form has dovetailed nicely with Fulham’s as a whole – in their previous three outings heading into this London derby they had scored three to beat Wolves, three in a losing effort at Liverpool and five to down Forest in midweek.

  Silva said he had “no doubts” that the overall performance of his side eclipsed Wednesday’s win, adding: “It was a brilliant performance from us. A great one at a very, very good level.

  “We were the best team on the pitch, not just because we won 5-0 but also the way we performed from the first minute and the players understood the plan and executed it so well. The way we did it was almost a perfect afternoon for us.

  “First of all of course, confidence builds confidence and the best example of this is Raul – since he scored the first goal against Villa.

  “We are not really different now, we changed and adjusted some things but the faith in our players was always there.”

  While he was able to celebrate 10 goals across the last two games, Silva was also delighted his side kept two clean sheets as Fulham moved into the top half of the table.

  “I think it is crucial,” he added.

  “Apart from the goals it has been the best feeling, it was crucial this afternoon and I told them at half-time when we were winning 3-0 that the main goal was to keep playing in our way, score the fourth if you can but the clean sheet has to be the challenge for the second half.

  “It is really important to create this mentality, try to win games but also try to be as solid as you can…I’m really pleased for it and it was one of the best feelings we got.”

  West Ham boss David Moyes bemoaned the short turnaround between Thursday night’s comeback win at Tottenham and their trip to Craven Cottage.

  “I think just the carry over from the game,” he said when asked why he felt his side had fallen to a heavy loss.

  “We used up too much energy in midweek and we weren’t able to get ourselves back, another Thursday fixture. No excuse for the result.

  “(It is) disappointing but we have had two difficult away games this week, three points from those two games is not a bad return.”

  The Hammers have had to get used to Thursday Europa League games followed by Sunday Premier League kick-offs this season but Moyes believes having a squad carrying a few injuries has not helped.

  “We haven’t normally had to try and play all the same players, we could have easily had a game on Wednesday but we didn’t – it was Thursday.

  “(Lucas) Paqueta has been carrying an injury, there is an illness in the camp so we have had to deal with that as well.”