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Man City 4-0 Liverpool: Report, result, goals as Haaland scores hat-trick in FA Cup quarter final

Highlights from Man City vs Liverpool in the FA Cup

Written by Ben Miller
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Man City 4-0 Liverpool: Report, result, goals as Haaland scores hat-trick in FA Cup quarter final

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City netted four times in 18 minutes either side of half-time to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for an eighth successive campaign by thrashing Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.

Premier League top scorer Haaland opened the scoring six minutes before half-time, converting a penalty after Virgil van Dijk was adjudged to have fouled Nico O’Reilly.

The Norway talisman doubled the advantage during added time with a superb header from Antoine Semenyo’s delivery and, after Semenyo struck inside the box from Rayan Cherki’s pass, Haaland followed suit from O’Reilly’s delivery, sweeping in via the crossbar for his 34th goal of the season in all competitions.

City goalkeeper James Trafford, who made his England debut as a starter in the 1-1 home friendly draw against Uruguay six days earlier, then saved Mohamed Salah’s penalty on the forward’s first appearance for the Reds since announcing he will leave the club at the end of the season, by which time some of the visiting fans had already left the Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool are next in action away to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday (20:00 BST). City visit Chelsea in the Premier League four days later (16:30).

Analysis: ‘Special day’ for Man City vs Liverpool

Haaland haunted Liverpool for a second time in 2026, having netted the 93rd-minute winner from the spot in a late 2-1 comeback victory by his side at Anfield in February.

“This is a special, special day for Manchester City,” former Cityzens player and boss Stuart Pearce told TalkSport, nodding to the victors’ 2-0 win over league title rivals Arsenal in the EFL Cup final in their preceding game on March 22 and calling their performance “virtuoso”.

“It won’t win them a trophy but the performance was incredible to back up the trophy they won a couple of weeks ago.

“The running of City running beyond and their passing ability, weight and timing was superb.

“Liverpool played extremely well in the early stages of the game but… this is what can happen against a City team who know how to deal with a big occasion.

“They defended when they had to, kept Liverpool at bay and forced mistakes at the end. From [the penalty] on, City grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.”

Here’s how many goals Haaland has scored this season and in his club careeer in all competitions.

Club (2025/26)Club and country (2025/26)Club (career)
3246292

When is the FA Cup semi final draw 2025/26?

The draw will be made at West Ham’s London Stadium on Sunday, April 5 after the Hammers’ all-Premier League tie with Leeds United in the final match of the quarter-finals.

FA Cup semi final draw 2025/26: What time does it start?

West Ham vs Brentford starts at 16:30 BST (11:30 ET / 08:30 PT) on Sunday, so the timing of the draw will depend on how long the match takes.

Extra time and penalties will be used to decide the tie, if necessary.

Where to watch the FA Cup semi final draw: TV channel, live online stream

The draw will be shown live on TNT Sports 1, the HBO Max app and the TNT Sports YouTube channel.

FA Cup semi final ball numbers

Here’s how the ball numbers look.

Ball numberClub
1Southampton or Arsenal
2Chelsea or Port Vale
3Manchester City
4West Ham or Leeds

When are the FA Cup semi finals 2025/26?

The FA Cup ties will take place on Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 2026.

FA Cup quarter final fixtures 2025/26: Schedule, kick-off times, channel

Here’s how the remaining last-eight fixtures look, with kick-off times BST.

DateFixtureTimeChannel
Saturday, April 4Chelsea vs Port Vale17:15TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, BBC One, iPlayer
Saturday, April 4Southampton vs Arsenal20:00TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, BBC One, iPlayer
Sunday, April 5West Ham United vs Leeds United16:30TNT Sports 1, HBO Max

Man City team vs Liverpool

John Stones was out for City with a minor injury sustained while with England and fellow defenders Ruben Dias (hamstring) and Josko Gvardiol (tibia fracture) remained sidelined.

Marc Guehi replaced Nathan Ake at the back in the one change made by head coach Pep Guardiola, who was serving the second game of a two-match touchline ban after accumulating six yellow cards this season.

Manchester City starting XI: James Trafford, Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland

Man City substitutes: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Tijjani Reijnders, Nathan Ake, Omar Marmoush, Mateo Kovacic, Nico Gonzalez, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Phil Foden

Liverpool team vs Manchester City

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, defenders Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni and midfielder Wataru Endo were out for Liverpool, who made three changes.

Mohamed Salah was the headline newcomer after being sidelined for the 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on March 21 but striker Alexander Isak was not involved as the Sweden international closed in on returning from a broken leg.

Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones also came in. Full-back Jeremie Frimpong, who had been a minor doubt, moved to the bench along with Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister.

Hugo Ekitike started in attack and fellow forward Federico Chiesa was also fit following injury concerns over the pair.

Liverpool starting XI: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike

Liverpool substitutes: Freddie Woodman, Alexis Mac Allister, Federico Chiesa, Cody Gakpo, Andrew Robertson, Jeremie Frimpong, Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha, Kieran Morrison

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland

Manchester City vs Liverpool stats

  • This was the seventh FA Cup tie between Manchester City and Liverpool; the Cityzens progressed from the first two after replays in 1955/56 and 197/-73, but the Reds had won each of the previous four, most recently in the 2021/22 semi-final
  • Of the last 20 meetings between the sides, 19 have produced at least two goals
  • City’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the EFL Cup final on March 22 ended a three-match winless run in all competitions, losing both legs of their Champions League tie against Real Madrid and drawing at West Ham United
  • They won three successive meetings with Liverpool in all competitions for the first time since March 1937 (4 in a row). The last side to beat Liverpool three times in a single campaign had been West Ham in 2015/16
  • Alongside 20 wins in their last 22 FA Cup matches, City are on an 18-game home winning run in the competition. Victory made this the outright longest home winning run by any side in the competition proper, surpassing Clapham Rovers’ 17 wins from December 1873 to February 1881
  • Since losing to Wigan Athletic in the 2017/18 fifth round, each of City’s last 32 FA Cup matches outside of semi-finals and finals have been victorious
  • City’s appearance in an eighth successive FA Cup semi-final extends their own competition record
  • Haaland has scored in each of his last four home games against Liverpool in all competitions; the only other Premier League players (since 1992/93) to score in 4+ consecutive home appearances against the Reds are Chris Sutton (4, from 1994 to 1996) and Sergio Aguero (5, from 2013 to 2017)
    Liverpool have won their last four away FA Cup ties against City
  • They have progressed from 18 of their last 20 FA Cup quarter-final ties, although they lost 4-3 to Manchester United in their previous one in 2023/24
  • Their last elimination from back-to-back FA Cup quarter-final appearances had been in 1967/68 and 1969/70 under Bill Shankly
  • Having won 3-1 away at Wolves in the fifth round, Liverpool failed to win two away games against Premier League opponents within a single FA Cup campaign for the first time since 2005/06, when they won at Portsmouth in the fourth round and Birmingham City in the quarter-finals
  • Mohamed Salah had scored in each of his previous three FA Cup appearances for Liverpool, including in a quarter-final against Manchester United in 2023/24. He missed out on becoming the first player to score in four consecutive FA Cup appearances for the club since Emile Heskey in 2000/01 – whose run included a goal against Manchester City in the fifth round

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