When Erling Haaland swept the ball home for a first Manchester City hat-trick since August 2024 it sent swathes of Liverpool fans for the exits. Only 57 minutes were gone yet City were cruising at 4-0 and Arne Slotâs men were being schooled.
Haalandâs third, in which JĂ©rĂ©my Doku and Nico OâReilly walked the ball through Liverpool before the No 9 hooked in off the bar, epitomised the pathetic response to the strikerâs 39th-minute penalty opener.
Until then those in red went toe-to-toe with their hosts, Hugo EkitikĂ© (twice) and Mohamed Salah spurning chances. Yet after the break the chronically impotent Salah missed two more early chances before failing where Haaland prospered â from the spot: at 4-0 down, the Egyptian steered the ball to James Traffordâs left, Cityâs goalkeeper parried and Liverpoolâs misery deepened further.
The beleaguered Slot knows this heaviest defeat handed to his Liverpool side damages his job prospects, because next is Wednesdayâs date at the European champions, Paris Saint-Germain. If they go down in similar manner in the Champions League quarter-final, then the owners may have a decision to make.
For Pep Guardiola all is wine and roses. This first outing since downing Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final ended in extending Cityâs record to an eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final â one more phenomenal statistic in a slew returned by a phenomenon of a manager.
Yet Liverpool, themselves eight time Cup-winners whose last triumph was in 2022, began brightly, Florian Wirtz and EkitikĂ© combining for the German to shoot. Next, Dominik Szoboszlai spun a free-kick on to Ibrahima KonatĂ©âs head and Trafford saved.
Guardiola, in a posh seat because of a two-game touchline ban, instructed his front four of Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki, Haaland and Doku to press high when Giorgi Mamardashvili restarted from Liverpoolâs goal.
Cityâs formation was a familiar 4-2-3-1, Liverpoolâs a curio of a nominal 4-4-2, with EkitikĂ© and Salah as a split front two and Wirtz invited to join them centrally.
Perhaps Slotâs thinking was seen when a downfield Mamardashvili punt put Salah in on the left â from close in his effort was deflected to safety by Abdukodir Khusanov.
At this point the contest was contested in a wall of noise and when Cherki feinted in Liverpoolâs area and went down as Milos Kerkez challenged him, Cityâs scream for a penalty further upped the febrile atmosphere.
Now came EkitikĂ© crashing the ball over after Rodri handed it to him. This would haunt Liverpool. So, too, Virgil van Dijkâs miss when Joe Gomezâs flighted delivery landed at the captainâs feet plum before Traffordâs posts: instead of pulling the trigger he turned possession back, and City escaped.
What came next was poorer from Van Dijk. When OâReilly received the ball in Liverpoolâs area, the Dutchman hooked his right foot around the left-back and felled him. It was easy for Michael Oliver to award a penalty despite the usual â and surely performative, in this case â protestations. Haaland beat Mamardashvili to the keeperâs left and celebrated with a playful kick of the right corner flag.
Haalandâs second, in first-half added time, closed a sweet City sequence. Matheus Nunes fed Cherki, whose tap for Semenyo was simple â and devastating. The Ghanaianâs cross was flicked by Haaland into Mamardashviliâs right side-netting and it was 2-0 City, Oliver blowing for the refreshments seconds later.
Liverpool were impotent, Salahâs first appearance since announcing his departure close to a nonevent. What could Slot do? If he ordered his team to up tempo and intent, it made zero difference because City scored again, five minutes into the second period.
This was shambolic from Liverpool. Gomezâs throw-in went straight to Marc GuĂ©hi, who found OâReilly, who relayed to the effervescent Cherki. Semenyo was played in and, as Mamardashvili advanced, the wingerâs left-footed deft lob was sublime.
Soon after, Salah skewed wide, a second miss of the half so far and the fourth in all of a depressing display â by him and the storied team he has graced for the past nine seasons.
When Cherki was taken off he briefly put on the also-substituted EkitikĂ©âs shirt (they are friends). He waved in apology but it mattered not as he and City were supreme all day.
Haalandâs third, in which JĂ©rĂ©my Doku and Nico OâReilly walked the ball through Liverpool before the No 9 hooked in off the bar, epitomised the pathetic response to the strikerâs 39th-minute penalty opener.
Until then those in red went toe-to-toe with their hosts, Hugo EkitikĂ© (twice) and Mohamed Salah spurning chances. Yet after the break the chronically impotent Salah missed two more early chances before failing where Haaland prospered â from the spot: at 4-0 down, the Egyptian steered the ball to James Traffordâs left, Cityâs goalkeeper parried and Liverpoolâs misery deepened further.
The beleaguered Slot knows this heaviest defeat handed to his Liverpool side damages his job prospects, because next is Wednesdayâs date at the European champions, Paris Saint-Germain. If they go down in similar manner in the Champions League quarter-final, then the owners may have a decision to make.
For Pep Guardiola all is wine and roses. This first outing since downing Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final ended in extending Cityâs record to an eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final â one more phenomenal statistic in a slew returned by a phenomenon of a manager.
Yet Liverpool, themselves eight time Cup-winners whose last triumph was in 2022, began brightly, Florian Wirtz and EkitikĂ© combining for the German to shoot. Next, Dominik Szoboszlai spun a free-kick on to Ibrahima KonatĂ©âs head and Trafford saved.
Guardiola, in a posh seat because of a two-game touchline ban, instructed his front four of Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki, Haaland and Doku to press high when Giorgi Mamardashvili restarted from Liverpoolâs goal.
Cityâs formation was a familiar 4-2-3-1, Liverpoolâs a curio of a nominal 4-4-2, with EkitikĂ© and Salah as a split front two and Wirtz invited to join them centrally.
Perhaps Slotâs thinking was seen when a downfield Mamardashvili punt put Salah in on the left â from close in his effort was deflected to safety by Abdukodir Khusanov.
At this point the contest was contested in a wall of noise and when Cherki feinted in Liverpoolâs area and went down as Milos Kerkez challenged him, Cityâs scream for a penalty further upped the febrile atmosphere.
Now came EkitikĂ© crashing the ball over after Rodri handed it to him. This would haunt Liverpool. So, too, Virgil van Dijkâs miss when Joe Gomezâs flighted delivery landed at the captainâs feet plum before Traffordâs posts: instead of pulling the trigger he turned possession back, and City escaped.
What came next was poorer from Van Dijk. When OâReilly received the ball in Liverpoolâs area, the Dutchman hooked his right foot around the left-back and felled him. It was easy for Michael Oliver to award a penalty despite the usual â and surely performative, in this case â protestations. Haaland beat Mamardashvili to the keeperâs left and celebrated with a playful kick of the right corner flag.
Haalandâs second, in first-half added time, closed a sweet City sequence. Matheus Nunes fed Cherki, whose tap for Semenyo was simple â and devastating. The Ghanaianâs cross was flicked by Haaland into Mamardashviliâs right side-netting and it was 2-0 City, Oliver blowing for the refreshments seconds later.
Liverpool were impotent, Salahâs first appearance since announcing his departure close to a nonevent. What could Slot do? If he ordered his team to up tempo and intent, it made zero difference because City scored again, five minutes into the second period.
This was shambolic from Liverpool. Gomezâs throw-in went straight to Marc GuĂ©hi, who found OâReilly, who relayed to the effervescent Cherki. Semenyo was played in and, as Mamardashvili advanced, the wingerâs left-footed deft lob was sublime.
Soon after, Salah skewed wide, a second miss of the half so far and the fourth in all of a depressing display â by him and the storied team he has graced for the past nine seasons.
When Cherki was taken off he briefly put on the also-substituted EkitikĂ©âs shirt (they are friends). He waved in apology but it mattered not as he and City were supreme all day.
