Manchester City star striker Erling nets hat-trick in 4-0 demolition of Liverpool to reach semi-finals; says he was itching to end treble drought after his last one in EPL victory over West Ham in September 2024
Man City’s Erling Haaland celebrates scoring against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images
Erling Haaland netted a hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed Liverpool 4-0 on Saturday to reach the FA Cup semi-finals. “Honestly, first-half we struggled a bit, but in the end it was an amazing game for us. Between 30 and 60 minutes, that’s one of our better performances of the season. It’s been some time since I scored a hat-trick for City [vs West Ham in September 2024], so it was about time I did it again. It’s always special so I’m super happy,” said Haaland.
City opened the scoring in the 39th minute after Virgil van Dijk tripped Nico O’Reilly in the box. Haaland converted the penalty in clinical fashion, and soon doubled their lead, by heading Antoine Semenyo’s cross past Reds custodian Giorgi Mamardashvili just before half-time.
Semenyo gets in on the act
Liverpool were in disarray and Semenyo landed the knockout blow five minutes after the interval. Rayan Cherki’s pass sent Semenyo sprinting in behind the flat-footed Van Dijk to clip a deft finish over Mamardashvili. Haaland completed the 28th treble of his career (57th min), drilling home via the underside of the bar after O’Reilly teed him up 12 yards from goal.
Salah off-colour
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah produced the latest in a long line of lacklustre performances. The Egyptian’s struggles were encapsulated by his second-half penalty miss after Nunes fouled Ekitike. Meanwhile, Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai lamented the lack of fighting spirit displayed by the team.
“The fighting spirit and the mentality wasn’t there. None of us were there [giving it our all] to be honest,” said the Hungarian before adding: “We had chances and missed them, we conceded an easy penalty. We lose 4-0. We cannot concede as much as we concede. Nothing else to say.”
12
No of hat-tricks Erling Haaland has scored while playing for Manchester City
33
No of goals by Man City’s Haaland in 44 games across all competitions this season
Three
No of times Man City have beaten Liverpool this season across all competitions
Five
No of goals scored by Haaland in three games against Liverpool this season
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