Mo Salah’s missed penalty, with Liverpool 4-0 down, summed up a day of embarrassment for Arne Slot’s men. Errors at both ends of the pitch presented Manchester City with an easy passage to an FA Cup semi-final.
Making four changes to the side beaten at Brighton, Liverpool started brightly, with both Hugo Ekitike and Salah wasting glorious chances to put their team ahead. However, that was as good as it got. Virgil van Dijk gifted City a penalty by hacking at Cherki as half-time approached. Haaland, who went on to score a hat-trick, despatched the spot kick with ease. Yet, at just 1-0 down, Liverpool were still in the game. Minutes later, with Haaland easily beating Konate to a cross, it was 2-0 and effectively game over.
Whatever Slot said at the interval had absolutely no effect. Liverpool conceded within seconds of Joe Gomez throwing the ball to a blue shirt, as Semenyo beat Mamardashvili with a clipped finish. Now three down and with heads dropping with 40 minutes remaining, it got worse. Haaland completed his hat-trick before Salah, increasingly a shadow of his former self, had his penalty saved by Trafford, who was otherwise virtually redundant for much of the game.
Just where Liverpool, and perhaps more pertinently Slot, go from here (other than to Paris) is anyone’s guess. The players look lost; lacking intensity, confidence, and, damningly, fitness. They appear poorly coached and constantly overpass, especially near the opponent’s penalty box, and pass up chance after chance to shoot.
Facing a huge challenge to overcome PSG in the Champions League, their remaining league games may well determine the futures of both Slot and several of the players. Failure to qualify for next season’s premier European competition would surely define this side, and there might be some very big decisions ahead in the near future.
