Manchester City delivered one of their biggest performances of the season after tearing Liverpool apart 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and as Softfootball reported, Pep Guardiola’s side looked ruthless, sharp, and completely in control from start to finish. This was not just a win it was a statement.
Against one of their biggest rivals, City produced a display full of intensity, quality, and clinical finishing, with Erling Haaland once again at the centre of everything.
The game turned into the Haaland show. The Norwegian striker opened the scoring in the 36th minute from the penalty spot after Nico O’Reilly was brought down in the box. From there, City only got stronger.
Haaland doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time with a powerful header, showing once again why he remains one of the most dangerous forwards in world football.
Antoine Semenyo then made it 3-0 in the 50th minute with a clever lob that completely killed off Liverpool’s momentum, before Haaland completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute to cap off a brutal afternoon for the visitors.
Liverpool had moments, but almost everything went wrong for them. Mohamed Salah missed a penalty, while Virgil van Dijk also had a goal ruled out, leaving Arne Slot’s side frustrated and chasing shadows for most of the match.
City, meanwhile, looked composed and aggressive all afternoon, with new signing Rayan Cherki also making his presence felt in the attack. The result also made history, as it became Manchester City’s 18th consecutive home victory in the FA Cup a remarkable record that underlined just how dominant they have been in the competition.
After the match, City posted the result on their X handle and fans immediately jumped into the reactions. Aliu wrote,
City to win the league come on guys,
while Determination kept it simple and brutal with,
This match was Haaland vs Liverpool.
Footzle looked ahead confidently, saying,
Domestic cups heading to Manchester! 👀
and Vibe added,
What a performance Haaland was unstoppable today.
There was also plenty of praise for the striker’s finishing. Aksan said,
Haaland is man of the match, with making hattrick,
while Adegoke posted,
Quite the performance boys. We meet next week.
One of the funniest fan reactions came from City, who joked,
Erling Haaland will have my daughter’s hand in marriage,😂🙏🏾.
Timi also summed up the overall performance perfectly, writing,
It was an absolute performance of pure clinical football and free flowing play unlike them corners FC😂.
This result also fits into a bigger pattern around City lately. Softfootball had already highlighted the mixed feelings that followed their FA Cup outing against Salford, where they got the job done without really lighting up the game, and also covered the intensity and emotion of their hard-fought win over Newcastle, a result many saw as a real title statement.
Against Liverpool, though, there was nothing scrappy about it. This was smooth, ruthless, and emphatic. With Haaland in this kind of mood, City are beginning to look like a side nobody will want to face in the final stages of any competition.
