Match Report & Player Ratings: Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool (FA Cup Quarter Final)
Match Report & Player Ratings: Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool (FA Cup Quarter Final) Manchester City reached the FA Cup semi-final for a remarkable eighth season in a row with a 4-0 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. An evenly-matched first-half was changed when Erling Haaland opened the scoring from the penalty spot, freeing City and allowing them to add a second when Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo combined to allow Haaland to head home his second. There was a party atmosphere in the second-half as Semenyo added a third and Haaland rounded off his hat-trick to pile the pain onto the eliminated Reds, which only increased when James Trafford saved the departing Mohamed Salah’s penalty.
The opening 10 minutes saw the teams probe without creating any real openings, although the visitors probably had the better of it. City blocked some efforts from the edge before Hugo Ekitike fired wide after a give-and-go with Florian Wirtz. Salah was serenaded by the travelling Liverpool fans following the announcement that he’ll be leaving in the summer, but the Egyptian ought to have given his side the lead after 15 minutes when he ran onto a Giorgio Mamardashvili long ball.
Abdukodir Khusanov put the forward off initially and then put his strike at James Trafford’s goal out for a throw-in. City bucked up their ideas and were soon howling for a penalty when a bulldozing run from Haaland saw the ball drop for a 50-50 between Cherki and Milos Kerkez – Pep Guardiola, serving a touchline ban and sat in the stands at the Etihad Stadium, couldn’t believe his side weren’t awarded a spot-kick. Chances came and went for both sides but with §0 minutes to go in the first-half, City did eventually get their penalty when Nico O’Reilly was bundled over in the box by Virgil van Dijk.
Mamardashvili denied Haaland from 12 yards in City’s 3-0 Premier League win back in November 2025 but the Norwegian sent the Georgian the wrong way this time for 1-0. City hadn’t turned up prior to their opening goal but they took control of the first-half thereafter and doubled their advantage just on the stroke of half-time. Cherki’s genius footwork allowed Semenyo to clip in a delicious cross – and Haaland’s brilliant header looped into the far corner to re-ignite the Etihad Stadium.
And within five minutes of the start of the second-half, those two combined again to end the game as a contest. Cherki found space in the final third and spotted Semenyo running off of Ibrahima Konate’s shoulder, perfectly picking out his teammate and seeing the Ghanaian dink delightfully over Mamardashvili. The Blues had to remain sharp, Trafford seeing involvement as Salah went through and shot towards the bottom corner, needing City’s cup keeper to turn the ball wide.
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