Man City 4-0 Liverpool: Erling Haaland’s hat-trick, Antoine Semenyo’s strike and Mo Salah’s penalty miss made it a disastrous day for Liverpool as they were eliminated from the FA Cup.
Liverpool suffered a heavy defeat at the Etihad (Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
It’s a familiar sight in Etihad Airways’ technical area. The casually dressed man can’t keep still and occasionally drops his desperately shaven head into his hands. It barely gave the fourth employee a moment’s respite.
And in the stands, Pep Guardiola was sitting next to his daughter Maria. The Manchester City manager was very laid back and enjoyed days when he took his children to work.
For Arne Slott on the touchline, it was the end of defeat. Desperation was painfully evident in every rant and every gesture. What could be wrong for Slot this season is definitely wrong.
For half an hour or so, the Premier League champions were the more threatening team, with Mo Salah missing some very good-looking half-chance picks. And whenever Liverpool have missed a chance this season, they have been punished. This time the punishment was cruel.
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This is Liverpool’s first of five games in the next 15 days before the Merseyside derby on April 19, and could very well decide Slot’s future. This spell couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
First of all, City have rediscovered their best attack power. And Haaland’s hat trick was Haaland at his peak. Confident penalties, perfectly timed runs and headers, and spectacular half-volleys.
Between the last two games, Antoine Semenyo scored a goal, a finish that would have made Haaland proud. However, the quality finishing was matched by some defensive work that was surprisingly lacking in intensity. In fact, this whole Liverpool performance was surprisingly lackluster.
That worries Slott and others, and it doesn’t bode well for the immediate challenge in Paris, it doesn’t bode well for the fight for the last place in the Champions League, and it doesn’t bode well for the manager’s future. It would be a thin straw to emphasize the amount of chances Liverpool created in defeat.
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Arne Slot’s job may be in jeopardy (Image: Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images)
This is becoming an empty shell of a Premier League champion team. Salah’s mistake summed up their performance. Lacking belief. Salah, who announced his departure at the end of the season, posted an emotional social media message/video as the first part of his farewell.
He couldn’t have written the script for the second half of the bye, missing some sitters and having James Trafford save a penalty. It was little consolation for Liverpool, but Salah’s mistake-studded contribution was emblematic of Liverpool’s day.
It’s no exaggeration to say that fellow veteran Virgil van Dijk was a little better, conceding City’s breakthrough penalty and knocking half a yard off the pace both physically and mentally. But Salah and Van Dijk were not the only ones to blame.
For the men, their reaction to Haaland’s failure to take the opening spot-kick was deeply unsatisfying. Again, they were more than competitive for the first half hour or so, but the moment Van Dijk fouled Nico O’Reilly to give Haaland the lead, they were over.
And every time City scored a goal, the Reds were not to blame. There was also no sign of rebellious behavior or motivation. They accepted their fate when Haaland doubled their lead just before half-time. And, even more worrying for Liverpool bosses, there was no sign of condemnation or defiance among the away fans.
Mo Salah’s penalty miss summed up the day (Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
They had also accepted their fate long before Semenyo scored the third goal, Haaland the fourth and Salah missed the penalty. And it was a sad foreshadowing of Slott shaking hands with Michael Oliver, sympathizing with Liverpool and playing a total of four seconds of stoppage time – and then heading to the away fans.
Of the 8,000 who made the journey, 800 would have remained. Tops.
Guardiola celebrated from his seat, while Slott applauded from the empty stands. If this is the beginning of a two-week reckoning, it couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
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