Man City 4-0 Liverpool: Erling Haaland scores FA Cup hat-trick as Mohamed Salah misses penalty in big quarter-final defeat
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City dismantled Liverpool 4-0 in an extraordinary FA Cup quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland’s penalty late in the first half opened the floodgates, the striker adding a second before the break with Antoine Semenyo making it three soon after the interval. Haaland’s hat-trick goal came before the hour, the reigning Premier League champions demolished.
Mohamed Salah, in his first appearance since announcing he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, even saw a penalty saved by James Trafford when four down to cap a miserable afternoon for Arne Slot’s side that will add to the growing pressure on him.
Mohamed Salah reacts after failing to score from the penalty spot against Man City
How Liverpool unravelled
It was Virgil van Dijk’s clumsy foul on Nico O’Reilly inside the penalty box that presented Haaland with the chance to put City in front, although there was little Liverpool could do to prevent the Norwegian’s second – a gorgeous goal in first-half stoppage-time.
Rayan Cherki’s trickery sent Semenyo away and Haaland headed beyond Giorgi Mamardashvili. It only got worse for Liverpool once Cherki started to enjoy himself, sending Semenyo in behind Van Dijk to chip Mamardashvili early in the second half.
Pep Guardiola, who was watching from the stands while serving a touchline ban, has now taken City into the last four of the FA Cup for an eighth consecutive season. Fresh from that Carabao Cup final triumph over Arsenal, they are eyeing a domestic cup double.
For Liverpool, this was their best chance of silverware this season, but they do still have a Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain and qualification for next year’s competition to secure. On this evidence, their prospects do not look good.
Analysis: Slot’s worst defeat yet
On the face of it, Slot could take some comfort in the underlying statistics. The possession was shared. Both teams had 11 attempts on goal. Liverpool actually had 36 touches in the opposition penalty box to Manchester City’s 21. An even contest, then?
Not quite. And while that reveals something about City boasting the best out-and-out striker on the planet, it also indicates just what has undermined Liverpool’s season. For a supposedly top team, they are bad in both boxes. The details continue to cost them.
Van Dijk did not need to kick O’Reilly inside the box, gifting City the chance to take the lead. Salah missed a penalty that was placed on the same spot from which Haaland had scored earlier on, having also wasted the game’s first clear chance.
Haaland completes his hat-trick to put Man City 4-0 up against Liverpool
With Alisson Becker injured again, these are Slot’s match-winners. Florian Wirtz, their record signing has decorated too many of these big matches rather than dominate them. Liverpool have lost something at full-back, while the balance in midfield is off.
There were times when the forwards would push high while the defence would drop off, opening spaces that this Liverpool do not have the legs to cope with. The sight of Dominik Szoboszlai chasing shadows on his own has been a feature of the campaign.
For all Liverpool’s struggles, no team other than Manchester City has beaten them by more than the odd goal this season. This was somehow different and yet also coming. The sort of excuses that supporters have had to listen to all year will not cover it now.