- Manchester City fought back from behind to beat Luton 2-1 this weekend
- The champions did this without Erling Haaland, who was sidelined due to an injury
- Away with Erik ten Hag! Man United's poor performances depend on the players – not the manager. Listen to why It all starts
Mateo Kovacic says Manchester City will have to raise their level while without key players if they want to stay in the Premier League title race.
The national champions came from behind on Sunday to win 2-1 at Luton, but did so without injured top scorer Erling Haaland, who dropped out with a stress fracture in his foot.
The 23-year-old, who has scored 19 goals this season on top of the 52 he scored in his debut season with City, is also likely to miss Wednesday's Champions League trip to Belgrade to face Red Star and Saturday's encounter at home to Crystal. Palace.
In-form winger Jeremy Doku also missed the win at Kenilworth Road with a muscle injury. He joins long-term absent Kevin De Bruyne, who was unavailable for manager Pep Guardiola, as his team look to close a four-point gap on the league leaders. Liverpool.
“Obviously we missed important players like Erling and Kevin, it's never easy when you miss such big players,” Kovacic said. “But they're not here right now. We need everyone to give 10, 20 percent more, like we did on Sunday, and then we can win games.”
Mateo Kovacic believes Manchester City must raise their level in the absence of key players
Erling Haaland missed the win over Luton after suffering a stress fracture in his foot
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The win was City's first in five games after draws against Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, prior to last week's loss to Aston Villa.
Defeat against Rob Edwards' side would have left them seven points behind the Reds, but victory against Palace will move them within a point of the top, with the teams above them not playing until Sunday.
Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish each scored in the space of three minutes in the second half to turn the match around after Elijah Adebayo's goal at the end of the first period gave them a scoreless match for the fifth time in a row.
“The team was confident because we played well,” Kovacic said. 'We didn't have bad results, there were some draws where we could have won.
'Sometimes this is football, it's about how you come back. Today we came back well.
Kevin De Bruyne has been ruled out for the long term as City look to defend their crown
'A big three points. We showed great football overall, especially in the first half we played very well, we found a lot of players in the pockets and that's what we want.
'If you do your thing and push, the goals will come. We could have scored more, but I'm happy with the three points.
'We have seen in recent matches that big teams can have a hard time here. We have shown that we can do our best and play good football even under these circumstances.
“This team has shown over the years that they are there in the difficult moments, and that they were there again (Sunday).”