Man City's unsung hero, Haaland hint and Manchester United approach - Pep's press conference notebook

Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne after watching the Manchester City pair single-handedly dismantle Luton on Tuesday night . But he resisted the offer to discuss Manchester United - up next - on three occasions in his post-match press conference.

After confirming another injury setback for Jack Grealish, Guardiola declared De Bruyne and Haaland almost back to full fitness. They were certainly back to their unstoppable best when they combined for City's first four goals, with Haaland adding a fifth of a very productive trip, and Mateo Kovacic getting in on the act late on.

It was another player, however, who Guardiola praised as an unsung hero from the 6-2 win, which he also insisted was not a perfect performance from City. Guardiola offered an insight into Haaland's mindset in recent games, and told his side where they need to improve against United.

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These are the points we learned from Guardiola's press conference after beating Luton:

It was not just Haaland and De Bruyne who earned praise from the manager at Kenilworth Road. "I think Stefan was amazing reading the long passes, not just with Erling," the manager declared, discussing his cup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. For Haaland's second goal, Ortega launched a pinpoint ball to the striker on the halfway line, for him to cushion the ball to De Bruyne, spin, and convert after getting the ball back from the Belgian.

For the second game running, Guardiola made a point of asking his goalkeeper to go direct to Haaland, in an attempt to bypass the