Man City 4-0 Liverpool: Erling Haaland scores FA Cup hat-trick as Mohamed Salah misses penalty in big quarter-final defeat
Report as Erling Haaland scored three goals in Manchester City's 4-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup; Mohamed Salah had penalty saved in quarter-final defeat that puts the spotlight on Arne Slot; Antoine Semenyo also scored in big win for Pep Guardiola's side
Saturday 4 April 2026 16:01, UK
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.
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.
Player of the match: Erling Haaland
"I have worked with a lot of good strikers," began Pep Lijnders when speaking in the press conference afterwards. But it was apparent from the tone in the City assistant's voice that he has not encountered many players like the astonishing Haaland.
"The second goal was insane," Lijnders enthused. "Because the way he attacks, the way he flies, the way he still puts the ball to the corner. I love when these old-school strikers cross, wait, commit, chip. I love it." This was Haaland back to his absolute best.
The striker's form has dipped for periods this year but he appears to have benefited from a relative break during the international window. With Norway having qualified, he was spared involvement in one of his country's two friendly matches.
"It is crazy what we are asking. I'm not saying that he carries Norway, but we all know how important a player he is for Norway, with a lot of other good players. What I'm trying to say is that he feels that responsibility," said Lijnders.
"He is feeling the responsibility to press, play, come to set, run behind, be in the box available, keep the ball when the opposition defends man to man. There are a lot of things we ask and do that every three days.
"It is clear then that not everything throughout the whole long, long season will go your way, but it shows character again and the mentality that he comes back in this fashion. It's lovely. Not only lovely, he is a machine to work with."
Slot: Fighting spirit missing
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot speaking in the press conference:
"I don't think you have to ask me about the result because that speaks for itself. That's an unbelievable disappointment. Losing is already a disappointment. Losing 4-0 in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against a team which Liverpool played so many times great games against or fights against and then losing 4-0 is of course a big disappointment.
"The 20 minutes where we conceded four goals were not of our standard.
"I think no one will probably remember it but the first 35 minutes there was a lot to like from my team. It would be nice if we then can score a goal once in a while as well from the chances we create.
"Again, we faced a team that was outperforming their xG by a mile and that's what happens constantly and we every time are under that.
"But if you want to have a chance of beating PSG you have to do both parts better. If you generate a chance you have to score and you cannot be so easily beaten with the four goals."
He added: "I missed the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half-time and then afterwards it was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4-0.
"But in that 10 to 15 minutes of time I missed [not just] the fighting spirit but just the willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for either a pass or a cross or a finish.
"That is something we definitely have to do better on Wednesday."
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.
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.
