Erling Haaland bags hat-trick as Manchester City hammer Liverpool 4-0 in FA Cup quarter-final

MANCHESTER – Erling Haaland admitted his form this season has “not been good enough” after scoring a hat-trick, as Manchester City crushed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on April 4 to cruise into the FA Cup semi-finals.

Coming into the match, the Norwegian had 30 goals from 43 matches for City, but the 25-year-old had netted just five times in 19 games in all competitions in 2026.

“First half, we struggled a bit, but then after around 30 minutes we kept going and in the end, it’s an amazing game. Another Wembley trip for us is amazing and important,” he told broadcaster TNT.

“I think (my form this season) has been a bit too much up and down, which is not good enough. I cannot keep on thinking about what I could have done differently or what didn’t happen, or what happened. I have to think about the next game.”

“Now we are going to Wembley. This club has to win trophies on the biggest stage,” he added.

Since his City debut in July 2022, Haaland has scored 12 hat-tricks across all competitions, the most of any player in Europe’s big five leagues.

Liverpool played well in the opening half-hour with Mohamed Salah wasting an early chance, but once Haaland had scored from the spot in the 39th minute after a foul on Nico O’Reilly, their resistance crumbled.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk conceded the penalty with a rash challenge and there was little the Dutch defender could do as City played scintillating attacking football for the remainder of the game.

His blond hair swinging behind him in a ponytail, Haaland netted his second two minutes into first-half stoppage time with a well-placed header from an excellent Antoine Semenyo cross.

“I love when a striker flies and attacks the ball and the fans love that as well,” said Pep Lijnders, who was filling in for City’s suspended manager Pep Guardiola.

“Pep is really pleased, that is the most important. It’s not easy to please him. We played a good game. The first 25 minutes we were too open. Then we started to control the game and created more chances,” he added.

Semenyo got on the score sheet himself five minutes after the break, latching on to a ball in behind from Rayan Cherki and chipping it beautifully past Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Haaland completed his treble with a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 57th minute.

Said Semenyo: “Cherki makes it easy for me and Erling is always on the end of everything. My life is easier and I know once I get in the box, one of them will be in the box and score...

“The world is our oyster at the moment and we just need to make sure we win that semi.”

Liverpool’s woes continued when Salah, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season, capped off a poor performance by having his penalty saved by James Trafford, snuffing out any faint hopes that the Reds might have had of a comeback.

Said Liverpool manager Arne Slot: “That probably sums up us today but also maybe large parts of the season.

“I think it is the second one he missed and Dominik Szoboszlai also already missed a penalty (in January), so it’s not only that we miss big chances – this season we have missed a few penalties...

“The first 35 minutes was the sort of team I would like to see but the 20 minutes after that, we have to defend so, so much better... The only good thing was that we didn’t concede more.”

Szoboszlai, meanwhile, offered a scathing assessment of the Reds’ showing.

He said: “The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough, the mentality wasn’t there enough. None of us were there to be honest as much as we could.”

The Reds have now lost 15 matches across all competitions this term, their most in a single season since 2014-15.

As the game turned into a victory parade, many Liverpool fans started heading for the exits and City rang the changes, replacing Haaland with Omar Marmoush, the Norwegian striker receiving a standing ovation as he left the field.

The semi-finals will take place at Wembley and Haaland is relishing a return to the stadium after their League Cup final win there in late March over Arsenal. REUTERS