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.”
Elanga hoping Forest can keep clinical edge against Brighton
Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga praised their clinical nature for their shock win at Liverpool and is hoping to carry into their trip to Brighton.
Forest have made an impressive start to the Premier League season, with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool – their first win at Anfield in 55 years – the pick of their results.
They are unbeaten so far, with two wins and two draws under their belts, leaving them seventh in the table.
Despite the positivity currently surrounding the club, Elanga is not getting ahead of himself.
"Since the start of pre-season, the atmosphere has been good," Elanga told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We went to Liverpool and not many teams can beat them and play the way we did – we got rewarded with it at the end.
"We have started the season well, but we have still got 35 games left – we have to go game by game.
"Last season we played the big sides and played well, it was marginal difference, and they were clinical. [On Saturday], we were clinical."
They face a Brighton side also yet to lose this season, and the Seagulls sit just one place above them in the table having scored more goals.
Brighton followed up their last-gasp win over Manchester United with two draws but bounced back with a 3-2 victory over Wolves in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Evan Ferguson returned to the starting line-up for that match, and though he failed to get on the scoresheet, Fabian Hurzeler backed him to get back to his best soon.
"I think we saw in some situations how good he can be," Hurzeler said.
"He had some shots in the first half, he worked hard against the ball. He can't be on the level already that he wants to and like he was before in the Premier League in the prime of his individual performance.
"We will try to get him there; he needs to train at 100%, and he needs to use every training session to get as fit as possible, and then I'm sure that he will help us."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brighton – Jan Paul van Hecke
Jan Paul van Hecke has made the most ball carries (116) in the Premier League this season, and subsequently carried the ball the furthest distance (1149 metres) of any player so far.
Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White
Morgan Gibbs-White has created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season (11).
MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN
Brighton are unbeaten so far in the Premier League this season (W2 D2) – they have never remained without defeat in their first five games of a top-flight season, last doing so in any division in the 2015-16 Championship.
Hurzeler's men have drawn their last two Premier League games. Indeed, of all teams to have played in more than one campaign in the competition, the Seagulls have seen the highest share of their games finish level (32.2% - 87/270).
Brighton have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four home league games against Nottingham Forest (W3 D1), having lost the previous two while conceding three goals each time.
Indeed, having been unbeaten in eight top-flight meetings with Brighton between 1980 and 2023 (W6 D2), Forest lost home and away against the Seagulls last season.
Forest have won their last four Premier League away games, including their 1-0 win at Anfield last weekend, more than they had in their first 36 on the road following their return to the division in 2022 (W3 D9 L24). They last won five consecutive away games (in any division) in January 1994, and last did so in the top-flight in March 1989.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brighton – 52.3%
Draw – 24%
Nottingham Forest – 23.7%
Women's Super League predictions: Will Bompastor make winning start with Chelsea?
The Women's Super League returns with a bang this weekend, with upheaval at the top of the table offering the promise of another thrilling campaign.
Chelsea gave Emma Hayes a triumphant send-off by edging out Manchester City on goal difference for their fifth straight title, but will former Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor be able to replicate her success?
Aston Villa are the opponents for her first game at the helm on Friday, while Sunday's action features a huge clash between potential title challengers Arsenal and City.
Elsewhere, Manchester United start their bid to improve on last season's disappointing fifth-placed finish against West Ham, while newly promoted Crystal Palace face a tough trip to Tottenham.
But who does the Opta supercomputer expect to start 2024-25 with three points?
CHELSEA V ASTON VILLA
Unsurprisingly, given their recent dominance of the division, Chelsea are overwhelming favourites to beat Villa – who finished seventh in 2023-24 – in Friday's curtain-raiser.
They won 85.1% of the supercomputer's pre-match simulations, with Villa given just a 5.5% chance of victory and the draw deemed a 9.5% likelihood.
Kingsmeadow was a real fortress under Hayes, and Bompastor will be desperate to retain the fear factor in her debut season. Chelsea have won 35 of their last 37 home league games, drawing one and losing one.
The Blues have, however, only won two of their six opening matches of a WSL campaign as the reigning champions, drawing two and losing two. One of those victories did come last term, though, as they beat Tottenham 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
MANCHESTER UNITED V WEST HAM
Old Trafford plays host to the first of two games on Saturday, as Marc Skinner's United take on West Ham, looking to kick on after ending a largely disappointing 2023-24 campaign with FA Cup glory.
They are assigned a 71.5% chance of a win, with West Ham victorious in 12.6% of our pre-match simulations and 15.9% finishing all square.
This will, of course, be United's first league game since Mary Earps departed for Paris Saint-Germain. The Red Devils suffered their heaviest-ever WSL defeat in her final game, going down 6-0 to Chelsea on home soil on the final day of last season.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce will hope for a quiet outing after stepping up to replace Earps as number one, and she may get her wish against a West Ham side that accumulated a miserable 15 points last term. Their seven away losses in 2023-24 was a joint-high among all WSL teams (also Bristol City).
BRIGHTON V EVERTON
Just one place and four points separated Everton from Brighton in the final standings, and the supercomputer struggles to separate them ahead of their clash at Broadfield.
The Toffees are slight favourites with a 40.6% win probability, compared to Brighton's 33.7%, while 25.7% of the supercomputer's pre-match simulations finished level.
Everton will hope to continue their momentum from the end of 2023-24, having ended the season on a four-game unbeaten streak (two wins, two draws), their longest of the campaign. They could go five without losing for the first time since October 2020.
Brighton's major arrival ahead of the new season is Chelsea great Fran Kirby, who has five goal involvements in eight WSL appearances against Everton, scoring on both of her starts versus them.
ARSENAL V MANCHESTER CITY
The headline fixture of the opening matchday takes place at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, as two of the sides most likely to challenge Chelsea for their crown – Arsenal and City – go head-to-head.
The supercomputer makes the Gunners favourites on home soil, with Jonas Eidevall's team winning 42.6% of our pre-match simulations. City are assigned a 30.7% chance of victory, and a 26.7% chance of earning a point.
Vivianne Miedema's move from Arsenal to City has added further intrigue to this fixture. She netted 80 times in 106 league appearances for Arsenal to become the WSL's all-time leading scorer, netting against all 15 opponents she has faced in the competition. Arsenal will be the 16th different team she has faced – will she return to haunt them?
City have won each of their last eight away league games, with the only longer such run in WSL history also being by City – a 12-match sequence between July 2016 and January 2018.
Arsenal, though, have won each of their last three WSL meetings with City, and they boast the most prolific player in the history of the opening matchday in the competition, with Beth Mead previously hitting seven goals on the first weekend, including two braces.
TOTTENHAM V CRYSTAL PALACE
Crystal Palace edged out Charlton Athletic to win the Women's Championship title last season, reaching the WSL for the first time. They will be the 19th different team to compete in the division and the first debutants since Leicester City in 2021.
Excluding the inaugural 2011 campaign, only one of 10 teams has ever won their first WSL match, Sunderland beating Liverpool 2-1 in 2015 (one draw, eight defeats).
The Eagles are not given much hope of replicating that feat by the Supercomputer, which assigns them just an 11.5% chance of victory to Tottenham's 72.7%. The draw is given a 15.8% likelihood.
Tottenham have a decent record on the opening day, too, only starting one of their last four WSL campaigns with a defeat (two wins, one draw), which came against champions Chelsea last season.
LIVERPOOL V LEICESTER CITY
Matt Beard is the only coach among the 12 WSL teams to have previously won the title, and his Liverpool side ended a promising 2023-24 campaign in fourth. They will be confident of getting underway with a win this term, with the supercomputer giving them a 60.2% chance of beating Leicester.
The Foxes, who would have been in relegation trouble if not for Bristol City's struggles last term, are given an 18.9% chance of victory, and a 20.9% likelihood of earning a draw.
Liverpool and Leicester also met on the final day of last term, the Reds winning 4-0. Seven teams have previously met on the final matchday of one WSL campaign and the opening weekend of the next, but only three have won both such meetings (Man City v Notts County, Tottenham v Birmingham, and Tottenham v Leicester).
Only Arsenal (nine) and Chelsea (seven) have won their opening game of a WSL season more often than Liverpool (six), who have started four campaigns with a victory under Beard (one defeat).
Red Star Belgrade 1-2 Benfica: Turkish delight for visitors as Akturkoglu and Kokcu earn win
An early goal from winger Kerem Akturkoglu and a superb free-kick by his fellow Turkey international Orkun Kokcu earned Benfica a 2-1 Champions League victory at Red Star Belgrade on Thursday.
Akturkoglu opened the scoring for the Portuguese side in the ninth minute, converting a cross from close range at the back post.
His compatriot Kokcu then doubled their advantage just before the half-hour mark with a meticulously placed free-kick from 25 yards out, picking out the top-right corner.
Red Star reduced the deficit when Felicio Milson was played through and scored from close range four minutes from time, but they were unable to find an equaliser at the death.
Data Debrief: Turkish first for Benfica
Goals from Akturkoglu and Kokcu ensured this was the first time two Turkish players had ever scored for a non-Turkish club in a Champions League match.
Kokcu, meanwhile, is on his way to earning a reputation as a dead-ball specialist.
Since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, no player has scored more direct free-kick goals in major European competitions than Kokcu's two, with this his first in the Champions League.
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