Luton 1-2 Manchester City: Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish turned the game on it's head after Elijah Adebayo gave The Hatters the lead in the first half

In the 89th minute of this rumbustious afternoon at Kenilworth Road, Jack Grealish of Manchester City took the ball to the corner flag rather than attempt to build an attacking move. No sooner had he arrived there than the English international, treble winner and face of Gucci was dumped on his backside in front of the home fans. It was that kind of afternoon for City. It was that kind of game.

But the champions of England won, just about. Pep Guardiola’s gilded team came from a goal down to win and in doing so brought to an end a mini-slump that some said was threatening to derail their league season. That was never likely.

Still City needed a little help from referee Tim Robinson to get over the line. Not favours, just good decisions, but they were important nonetheless.

The first was an advantage that allowed City to play on in the 62nd minute and for Bernardo Silva to equalise while the assistant referee was still flagging for a foul on Kyle Walker. The second, a few minutes later, waved away Luton appeals for handball against Julian Alvarez as City eased forwards to create the winner for Grealish. Another smart call among the chaos and heat of a Premier League Sunday.

It’s worth mentioning because Guardiola was critical of referee Simon Hooper after City drew at home with Tottenham a week ago while he here he gave assistant referee Marc Perry a right earful as the two men walked across the field towards the tunnel at half-time. Strange how the good decisions never get quite the same attention as the bad eh?

At the end referee Robinson was booed off by the home supporters but that’s the way it goes. As it happens, he had a good game, as indeed did Luton. They gave City a heck of scare.

Rob Edwards’ team are devilishly hard to beat here and City – without the injured Erling Haaland – had to dig deep once home striker Elijah Adebayo had crashed in a far post header in first half added time.

It felt like a slog for City at times but it may well turn out to be an important afternoon. They play Crystal Palace at home next Saturday but then skip a fixture to compete in the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia. They do not want to be too far behind whoever leads the Premier League by the time they return.

Here they could have made this easier. They could have been ahead in the second minute. Silva – City’s best attacking player – played in Phil Foden down the left and his low cross shot was pushed out by Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski. Silva had followed the play in to the penalty area but his follow-up shot was not controlled.

After what threatened to be a flying start, things grew significantly harder for City. Luton accepted their opponents would have the possession but were not prepared to sit back and let City push on to them. Instead Luton’s forward players pressed City as they attempted to build, challenging them to play through. 

Sometimes City would manage it and that was when they looked dangerous, numbers flooding on to Luton’s back four. Equally, Luton managed to hustle City from their stride in equal measure. Jacob Brown, in particular, was a menace in this regard and gave the returning Rodri and Mateo Kovacic not a moment’s peace.

Occasionally there were glimpses of light for City. Kaminski touched over a 25-yard Rodri shot while Foden was denied to the goalkeeper’s left in the 26th minute.

In between that Grealish was close while Alvarez should probably have done better than flick a shot in to the side netting with his right foot after Grealish found him with a cute ball to the near post.

City were not dominant but comfortable. But then Luton scored. Two minutes in to added time, Andros Townsend finally got some change out of Josko Gvardiol down the right and when he chopped the ball back on to his left foot, his inswinging cross was headed in at the back post by Adebayo.

As the home support lost their minds it was tempting to look for fault in the City defence. In truth there was little to be found. It was just a superb cross garnished by a magnificent centre forward’s leap.

For the third game running in the league, City had to come from behind and when this game turned it did do largely on the back of hard work and persistence. There was nothing flash about this comeback, nothing overwhelmingly inevitable. But it came all the same.

Ruben Dias advanced to smash a shot against the bar on the hour in the 60th minute and this prompted a spell of City possession that turned and ultimately settled the game.

With referee Robinson that advantage, Rodri was allowed to advance in to the Luton penalty area and when his progress was halted by Tom Lockyear, Silva moved on to the ball and curled it beautifully towards the far corner and in with his left foot.

Then, with the official ignoring calls for handball against Alvarez as he broke up play in the middle of the field, Foden briefly took the ball on, funnelled it back to Alvarez on the right and his low cross was side footed through Kaminski’s legs and in at the far post by Grealish.

This felt hard on Luton. Heroic defeats are becoming a speciality here. Their spirit never left them, though. And that’s just as well as they will need it. City will also. Winning games in the Premier League doesn’t get any easier, no matter who you are.