Haaland hits the back of the net with a hat‑trick in his team’s crushing victory

Manchester City deepened the wounds of visiting Liverpool as they inflicted on them a crushing 4–0 defeat in the FA Cup quarter‑finals, a match that saw Norwegian striker Erling Haaland score a hat‑trick and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah miss a penalty. Salah failed to extend his journey towards a second trophy in the competition after his first in 2022. The Egyptian “Pharaoh,” who has scored 255 goals for the “Reds,” will conclude nine remarkable seasons at Anfield in the summer, before featuring in the World Cup with his national team.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot appears to be in grave danger after this heavy loss (he has won only twice in the last seven matches), as City fans chanted “You’re getting sacked tomorrow morning” at him. Slot sits in a disappointing fifth place in the league, 21 points behind league leaders Arsenal, and now has only the UEFA Champions League left, where his side will host defending champions Paris Saint‑Germain in the first leg of the quarter‑finals on Wednesday.

Despite leading Liverpool to their record‑breaking 20th league title less than a year ago, Slot is under immense pressure. In contrast, City, sitting second in the league, remain in the hunt to match their own feat as the only English team to win the domestic treble (League Cup, FA Cup, and league) in 2019.

This is the first time manager Pep Guardiola has beaten Liverpool three times in a row, and the first time City have triumphed over them since 1937, as they march toward reaching the FA Cup semi‑finals for the eighth consecutive season. After the match Haaland told broadcaster “TNT”: “This win is incredible. We struggled a bit in the first half, but we kept pressing after the 30‑minute mark. Fantastic, it’s another trip to (Wembley) for us, and that’s important.” He added that they produced one of their best stretches of the season between the 30th and 60th minutes.

Liverpool had two early chances to open the scoring, Salah going one‑on‑one and Frenchman Hugo Ekitike forcing a fine save from French goalkeeper Ryan Cherki. However, City, still riding high after winning the League Cup at Arsenal’s expense 2–0, were awarded a penalty when Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk fouled young left‑back Nico O’Reilly; Haaland converted by sending Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way, replacing the injured Brazilian Alisson Becker in the 39th minute.

Haaland struck again before the break, heading in a cross from Ghanaian Antoine Semenyo in the 47th minute. City continued their stroll early in the second half with a pass from Cherki that released Semenyo for an easy goal in the 50th minute, then surged further into the lead when a key pass from O’Reilly opened the door for Haaland’s hat‑trick in the 57th minute.

This was Haaland’s 12th career treble with City in all competitions since joining in the summer of 2022, making him the current player with the most hat‑tricks among active players in the top five European leagues, one ahead of English striker Harry Kane at Bayern Munich (11), according to Opta statistics. The Norwegian remarked: “It’s been a while since I last scored a hat‑trick in a City shirt, so it was time to do it again! It’s special and I’m very happy.”

Even the penalty Liverpool won after Portuguese Matheus Nunes fouled Ekitike was wasted, as Salah’s effort went straight at goalkeeper James Trafford in the 64th minute.

City, who lost last season’s final to Crystal Palace, are now seeking a fourth consecutive appearance in the FA Cup final and a chance to win their eighth title, six shy of Arsenal’s all‑time record.