April 04, (THEWILL) — Erling Haaland struck a hat-trick to send Manchester City into the FA Cup semi-finals, with a 4-0 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium booking the club a return trip to Wembley later this season.
The match began at a pace, with Abdukodir Khusanov making a crucial block to deny Mohamed Salah inside the penalty area before Rayan Cherki wasted a clear opening, failing to control Bernardo Silva’s through ball at the vital moment.
City broke the deadlock in the 39th minute after Virgil van Dijk fouled Nico O’Reilly, and Haaland converted from the spot, sending Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way.
The Norwegian added a second on the stroke of half-time, heading home from Antoine Semenyo’s cross, before the winger got on the scoresheet himself five minutes into the second half, dinking a finish over the Liverpool goalkeeper.
Haaland completed his treble in the 57th minute, converting from O’Reilly’s cutback.
Liverpool’s afternoon grew worse shortly after the hour mark when Salah, on what has been labelled his farewell tour, saw a penalty saved by James Trafford following a foul by Matheus Nunes on Hugo Ekitike.
The victory sends City to Wembley for a second appearance this season.
Liverpool, despite a lively opening, were unable to recover after conceding before the break, with Haaland’s hat-trick the defining feature of a thoroughly one-sided contest.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
