Erling Haaland’s 18-minute hat trick powered Manchester City to a 4-0 win over Liverpool and into the FA Cup semifinals for a record eighth straight season on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah’s failure from the penalty spot added to the woes of Liverpool, whose meltdown at Etihad Stadium will put more heat on under-pressure manager Arne Slot.
Haaland converted a penalty in the 39th minute, headed home a cross from Antoine Semenyo in first-half stoppage time, and then swept in a finish off the crossbar in the 57th to score his first hat trick of the season for City and 12th since he joined the club in 2022.
Semenyo scored the other goal in the 50th for City, which was playing its first match since winning the English League Cup two weeks ago by beating Arsenal in the final at Wembley Stadium. City will be heading back there later this month for the FA Cup semis.
“This club has to win trophies,” said Haaland, who was described after the game as a “machine” by City assistant coach Pep Lijnders — deputizing in the dugout while Pep Guardiola served a touchline suspension.
Salah, who announced during the recent international break that he’d be leaving Liverpool after nine trophy-filled seasons, was beginning his long goodbye to the Reds but couldn’t mark it with a goal. The best of the many chances he spurned came from a penalty, which City goalkeeper James Trafford palmed away in the 64th.
It was a record 18th straight home win for City in the FA Cup, dating to 2017. Pep Guardiola's team shared a record with Clapham Rovers for reaching seven consecutive FA Cup finals, but now holds it outright.
Many Liverpool fans were seen leaving the stadium after the fourth City goal.
“The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough, the mentality wasn’t there enough," Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai said. "None of us were there to be honest as much as we could.
“It’s a hard time but we have to stick together."
Later Saturday, Chelsea hosts third-tier Port Vale before Arsenal visits second-tier Southampton.
The draw for the semifinals takes place Sunday after West Ham hosts Leeds in the final match in the last eight.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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CA Is Burning said:
craigwiesner said:
Thanks for this great column which gives me, and I hope others, some inspiration to think about how we spend our most precious gift, time!
LittleFoot said:
Why not just post your own comment saying that, Rajiv?
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