Man City are copying Arsenal tactic to compensate for problem that annoys Pep Guardiola

Manchester City moved back to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday with a thumping 5-1 victory over relegation-threatened Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium.

Second half goals from Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol followed a Daiki Hashioka own-goal after just two minutes to secure a commanding victory for Pep Guardiola's side. The win moved them back to the summit ahead of both Arsenal and Liverpool playing on Sunday.

The victory also chalked up a third successive league triumph for the Blues, who have scored four goals or more in each of those successes. They will be hoping to maintain their title charge when they face Brighton & Hove Albion on the other side of next weekend's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.

READ MORE: City player ratings vs Luton as Jeremy Doku shines

READ MORE: Erling Haaland sends three-word Premier League warning to Arsenal and Liverpool

One of the driving factors behind City's recent run of good form has been their ability to come flying out of the traps and score early. Hashioka's own-goal on Saturday marked the third Premier League game running that they have scored within the opening 15 minutes, though they had to come from behind against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park just over a week ago.

City, too, also came flying out of the traps against Real Madrid in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final in midweek, getting their noses in front through a clever Bernardo Silva free-kick after just two minutes. It is ensuring they are laying down an early marker to take the game to their opponent.

Looking at the Premier League in isolation, City have now scored nine goals within the opening 15 minutes of matches this season, a record which can only be bettered by both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur (both 10).

Arsenal, as the statistics prove, have done a lot of damage early on in games this season, putting teams to the sword as quickly as possible. The Gunners have scored a league-best 34 first half goals this season, marginally better than City's tally of 30.

On the flip side, though the team that finishes top of the pile come mid-May will have earned that honour, City have not been as defensively sound as Arsenal have, conceding 32 goals in comparison to the Londoners' tally of 24. The fact they conceded against Luton on Saturday will have no doubt frustrated Guardiola slightly, as it marked a third Premier League game in a row without a clean sheet.

The City boss, in February, admitted that he would like to see his side increase their clean sheet tally, though the overriding focus remains winning games by any means necessary, which, of course, they are currently achieving.

"We love to have clean sheets," said Guardiola. "All the teams want it, and we are not an exception.

"We want to concede few [but] at the end we want to win games. Sometimes you have periods where you defend well and concede goals, sometimes you don't concede.

"Never since I arrived [at City] was I focused on clean sheets, clean sheets, clean sheets. The players know it but I don't go to them and say 'Today clean sheets, clean sheets, clean sheets.' If you say 'clean sheets, clean sheets' they forget to play and forget defending and forget what they have to do."

In total, City have amassed nine clean sheets in the league this season, which is five fewer than Arsenal have. City, last term, kept 13, meaning they can still surpass that total with a strong end to the season. Nevertheless, as Guardiola highlighted two months ago, winning is what matters most, and City are doing exactly that.