Liverpool player ratings vs Man City: Another embarrassment for Arne Slot! Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have absolute shockers as Reds exit FA Cup with barely a whimper

Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup on Saturday as they fell to a 4-0 quarter-final defeat at Manchester City that heaps more pressure on manager Arne Slot. Despite playing some nice football at times, the Reds were undone in the space of 18 minutes either side of half-time as a hat-trick from Erling Haaland and an Antoine Semenyo strike sealed City's spot in the semi-finals.

Liverpool troubled their hosts early on with their high press, but struggled to trouble James Trafford in the City goal. Mohamed Salah should have done better when he was sent through by a long ball from Giorgi Mamardashvili, but the Egyptian, playing his first game since announcing his intention to leave Anfield this summer, delayed his finish, allowing Abdukodir Khusanov to challenge him as he shot.

Hugo Ekitike, meanwhile, lashed a couple of efforts wide, meaning the breakthrough only arrived after Virgil van Dijk tripped Nico O'Reilly inside the Liverpool penalty area, and Haaland made no mistake from the spot. The Norway international then doubled City's lead in first-half stoppage time when he got ahead of Ibrahima Konate to head home Semenyo's cross.

Semenyo himself got on the scoresheet shortly after the break when he produced a chipped finish after being played in behind the Liverpool backline, before Haaland lashed a finish in off the crossbar after being found by O'Reilly following another irresistible City move.

Liverpool were gifted an opportunity to pull one back when Hugo Ekitike was brought down by Matheus Nunes for a penalty, but Salah had his effort saved by Trafford to sum up yet another miserable day at the office for the soon-to-be deposed Premier League champions.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from the Etihad...

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Goalkeeper & Defence
Giorgi Mamardashvili (5/10):
Showed decent handling for the most part and cannot be blamed for any of the goals. Probably should have had an assist to Salah at 0-0.
Joe Gomez (6/10):
Managed to shut down Doku for the most part while some of his long throws caused problems. Failed to go with O'Reilly for the fourth City goal.
Ibrahima Konate (4/10):
Never looked comfortable up against Haaland after the City striker bundled him over early on. Beaten in the air for City's and Haaland's second.
Virgil van Dijk (2/10):
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for the great man? Lazy challenge gave away the penalty while he was caught on his heels for each of the next three goals. A shadow of his former self.
Milos Kerkez (5/10):
Did OK up against Semenyo and Cherki to begin with before eventually being overwhelmed by City's two most creative players.

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Midfield
Dominik Szoboszlai (5/10):
Did a good job supporting Gomez up against Doku but that ended up limiting his attacking output going the other way.
Ryan Gravenberch (4/10):
First-half booking limited his ability to press the City midfield thereafter, thus diminishing his impact on the game.
Curtis Jones (5/10):
Combative on his return to the line up but his passing was too hit and miss for his liking.
Florian Wirtz (6/10):
Saw plenty of the ball in the first half as he found pockets of space and produced some delicate touches. Perhaps could have done more to help Kerkez defensively, however.
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Attack
Mohamed Salah (2/10):
Not the start to his farewell tour that he would have wanted. Delayed too long when presented with a great chance to open the scoring before having his dreadful penalty saved. Not in the game enough in between times, either.
Hugo Ekitike (5/10):
Proved elusive at times in the first half with his movement, but wasteful in front of goal. Did win the penalty with a strong run in the second half.

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Subs & Manager
Jeremie Frimpong (5/10):
Replaced Gomez but was a peripheral figure for his half-hour on the pitch.
Alexis Mac Allister (6/10):
Stung Trafford's palms with one long-range effort after coming on for Gravenberch.
Rio Ngumoha (6/10):
Had a couple of dangerous moments in another bright cameo off the bench.
Cody Gakpo (5/10):
Barely in the game after replacing Ekitike.
Federico Chiesa (5/10):
On for Salah late on but barely had a touch.
Arne Slot (3/10):
His system actually worked well for almost 40 minutes and caused City problems. But his team's frailties were exposed once they went behind and it felt like the Reds had already given up early in the second half, which does not reflect well on the coach.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Midfield

Attack

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Subs & Manager