It was an entertaining start at the Etihad with both teams confident on the ball and creating early chances, as Abdukodir Khusanov’s superb last-ditch tackle stifled Mohamed Salah in a dangerous position and Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili denied Rayan Cherki from close-range.
Cherki then saw a penalty appeal turned down, but shortly before the half-time interval when Nico O’Reilly was tripped by Virgil Van Dijk in the box, referee Michael Oliver had no option but to point to the spot.
Haaland stepped up and coolly slotted us ahead, claiming his 31st goal for City across all competitions this season and grabbing his sixth in 11 appearances against the Reds.
Our towering striker then doubled his and our tally for the afternoon in first-half stoppage time, heading in expertly after wonderful build-up play from Cherki and Antoine Semenyo.
We picked up where we left off and made it 3-0 five minutes after the break, with Cherki playing Semenyo through to confidently dink the ball over Mamardashvili and into the net.
We kept pushing for more and Haaland grabbed his 12th career hat-trick for City, sweeping in clinically via the crossbar from O’Reilly’s clever cut-back.
Shortly after the hour mark, James Trafford expertly denied Salah from the penalty spot, diving to his left to palm away the effort and preserve our clean sheet after Matheus Nunes was penalised for fouling Hugo Ekitike.
We remained in control to cruise into the semi-final of the FA Cup for the eighth successive season, securing another trip to Wembley and creating history in the competition by becoming the first team to win 18 home games in a row.
View the best images from the impressive victory via our gallery below.
