Erling Haaland scored an 18-minute hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for a record eighth consecutive season . The Norwegian opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 39th minute after Virgil van Dijk fouled Nico O’Reilly, then headed home Antoine Semenyo’s cross in first-half stoppage time before completing his treble in the 57th minute, drilling home via the underside of the bar after O’Reilly teed him up from 12 yards . Semenyo had added a third five minutes after the restart, while Mohamed Salah capped a poor performance by having a penalty saved by James Trafford in the 64th minute . The result piles further pressure on Liverpool manager Arne Slot as City booked their place at Wembley later this month.
Chelsea ended Port Vale’s fairytale run with a merciless 7-0 demolition at Stamford Bridge, advancing to the semi-finals for the first time since 2021 . The Blues, who had failed to score in over 300 minutes of play before Saturday, went ahead in just 64 seconds when Jorrel Hato pounced on poor defending by the visitors . Joao Pedro doubled the lead in the 25th minute before an own goal by Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel made it three before half-time . Tosin Adarabioyo headed a fourth from Malo Gusto’s cross, Andrey Santos nodded home a corner for the fifth, Brazilian teenager Estevao finally scored after twice hitting the post, and Alejandro Garnacho completed the rout from the penalty spot in stoppage time . Port Vale, who sit bottom of League One but had knocked out Premier League Sunderland in the previous round, were simply outclassed by Liam Rosenior’s side.
The shock of the round came at St Mary’s, where Championship side Southampton stunned Premier League leaders Arsenal 2-1 to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2021 . Wearing a special yellow commemorative jersey marking 50 years since their famous 1976 FA Cup final win over Manchester United, the Saints took the lead in the 35th minute when Ben White misjudged James Bree’s cross, allowing Ross Stewart to drill home from close range . Arsenal levelled midway through the second half when Kai Havertz teed up substitute Viktor Gyokeres to slot home from six yards for his 17th goal of the season, but the Gunners were dealt a blow when Gabriel Magalhaes limped off with a knee injury soon afterwards . With five minutes remaining, a rapid Southampton counter-attack saw Tom Fellows surge to the edge of the area and feed Shea Charles, whose composed finish flashed into the far corner to spark jubilant scenes on the south coast.
The result extends Southampton manager Tonda Eckert’s unbeaten run to 15 games in all competitions and heaps more misery on Arsenal, who lost the League Cup final to Manchester City in their last match before the international break and have now squandered another chance to end their six-year trophy drought . Arsenal remain firm favourites to win the Premier League for the first time since 2004 with a nine-point lead over second-placed City, but Mikel Arteta will be concerned about his side’s sudden wobble ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg at Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday . West Ham United host Leeds United on Sunday in the last of the quarter-finals, with the draw for the semi-finals taking place immediately afterwards.
