Erling Haaland’s hat-trick saw Manchester City thrash Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium to reach 2025-26 FA Cup Semi-Finals.
Haaland put City in firm control with two late first-half goals as he first dispatched a penalty following Virgil van Dijk’s foul on Nico O’Reilly, before he nodded Antoine Semenyo’s cross into the top-left corner in the second minute of additional time.
The 25-year old Norwegian completed his hat-trick with a 57th-minute finish from O’Reilly’s cutback pass to seal City’s passage into the semi-final draw, which will follow the conclusion of West Ham’s Quarter-Final tie against Leeds United on Easter Sunday 5 April.
Fresh off the back of their Carabao Cup success just before the international break, Man City almost forced an early opening goal in the second minute but Jeremy Doku fired his shot wide.
Liverpool swiftly proceeded to dominate much of the opening half-hour but Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Mohamed Salah fired wide, whilst Ibrahima Konate put a fifth-minute header into James Trafford’s arms from a free-kick.
City however almost won a 18th-minute penalty as Rayan Cherki was brought down by Milos Kerkez just inside of the box, but Video-Assistant Referee (VAR) ruled against a spot-kick and declared that Kerkez managed to get a touch on the ball.
Liverpool though weren’t lucky 19 minutes later as Van Dijk collided with O’Reilly who fell to the ground on impact, which left referee, Michael Oliver to award a spot kick which Haaland dispatched into the bottom-right corner to put City ahead.
City consequently found their attacking spark as they chased a second goal before half time which came in the second minute of additional time, as Semenyo and Cherki played a neat one-two up the right flank which saw Semenyo cross the return pass across the box which Haaland thumped into the top left corner.
If Liverpool had any hopes of a second-half comeback to at least force extra times, those ambitions were quickly blown apart just four minutes into the second half, as Cherki slipped Semenyo through to chip a curled shot over Giorgi Mamardashvili into the far-right corner.
City heaped further misery on Arne Slot’s Reds in the 57th minute as O’Reilly played an one-two move with Doku before he cut back to Haaland, and the Norwegian swept the ball into the net for his 12th hat-trick as a City player and 28th overall in his career.
Liverpool however were handed faint hope of a comeback after Matheus Nunes clipped Ekitike inside the box, yet Salah’s penalty was saved by James Trafford as the City goalkeeper dived correctly to his left.
City eventually saw the game out to record their first FA Cup victory over Liverpool since the fourth round in 1972-73 edition, with this win marking their first against the Reds without needing a replay, which was how their two previous FA Cup victories in this fixture were won.
What’s Next?
Man City face a tricky Premier League visit to top-four chasing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 12 April at 4:30pm BST.
Liverpool meanwhile turn their focus to the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final away to PSG on Wednesday 8 April at 9pm CEST (8pm BST).
Teams
Man City: James Trafford, Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly, Rodri (Gonzalez 62′), Bernardo Silva, Antoine Semenyo (Foden 71′), Rayan Cherki (Reijnders 71′), Jeremy Doku (Savinho 62′), Erling Haaland (Marmoush 77′)
Substitutes: Nathan Ake, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Phil Foden, Nicolas Gonzalez, Mateo Kovacic, Omar Marmoush, Savinho,, Tijani Reijnders
Liverpool: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Joe Gomez (Frimpong 62′), Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Ryan Gravenberch (Mac Allister 67′), Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah (Chiesa 77′), Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz (Ngumoha 68′), Hugo Ekitike (Gakpo 68′)
Substitutes: Federico Chiesa, Jeremie Frimpong, Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Kieran Morrison, Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Andrew Robertson, Freddie Woodman
Referee – Michael Oliver
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