Kovacic claims EPL title race will come down to 'who has the strongest nerves

Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic admits the title run-in will be a test of nerve.

The champions kept the pressure on rivals Arsenal and Liverpool at the Premier League summit with an emphatic 5-1 win over relegation-threatened Luton on Saturday.

City now have just six games remaining of what has been an enthralling title race.

Kovacic, who scored City's second goal in a commanding display at the Etihad Stadium, said: 'It's amazing, it's entertaining. Three amazing teams doing great.

'It will be tough until the end and let's see who will have the strongest nerves until the end.

'It was important to keep the pressure on them but we are focused on ourselves, to win our games and then in the end we'll see what happens.'

City dominated in all departments against the Hatters but they benefited from a huge slice of luck to take the lead after just two minutes.

Erling Haaland's acrobatic volley was heading well wide until catching Daiki Hashioka in the face and deflecting into the net for a highly unfortunate own goal.

Perhaps with next Wednesday's Champions League clash against Real Madrid in mind, City then played at a slow tempo and it was not until the 64th minute when Kovacic doubled the lead with a thunderous strike.

Haaland then added a penalty and the hosts finished strongly with further goals from Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol after Ross Barkley had grabbed a consolation.

'We kept going, doing our job and in the end scoring five goals,' said Kovacic. 'It could have been even more but we are happy with the three points. We have to keep going now.

'We approach every game focused, to be 100 per cent and do our best. I think this game was as important as Wednesday. We need to keep the same focus and try to win.'

Former Man