‘We know how aggressive they are’: Guardiola praises Haaland, De Bruyne partnership after FA Cup win

LONDON — Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised the compatibility of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, noting their aggressive playing styles following their standout performances in the 6-2 victory over Luton Town in the FA Cup fifth round.

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 the holders City make it through to FA cup quarterfinal for the seventh time in eight attempts under Guardiola.

“I think Erling needs a guy with the vision, the quality and generosity. 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,” Guardiola told club’s official website.

“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,” he said.

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. Two days off now to refresh our minds and legs and prepare for the game,” Guardiola added.

provided City with an ideal confidence boost before the Manchester Derby on Sunday, although Guardiola said that the match against United won’t be comparable.

“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.

“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,” said Guardiola.