Egyptian "Pharaoh", with 255 goals for the "Reds", will end nine exceptional seasons at Anfield next summer before participating in the World Cup with his national team. It seems that the fate of Liverpool's Dutch coach, Arne Slot, has become dim after this heavy defeat (having won only twice in the last seven matches), with City fans even chanting, "He'll be fired tomorrow."Liverpool occupies a disappointing fifth place in the league, 21 points behind leaders Arsenal, and has only the Champions League left, where it will face French champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in the first leg of the quarter-final. Despite leading Liverpool to its record 20th league title less than a year ago, Slot is under immense pressure. Meanwhile, City, second in the league, is still in the race to match its achievement as the only English team to win the domestic treble (League Cup, FA Cup, Premier League) in the 2019 season. This is the first time for his brilliant Spanish coach, Pep Guardiola, to win three consecutive matches against Liverpool, and the first for City since 1937 on its way to an eighth consecutive semi-final and an 18th consecutive victory in the competition, a record.Liverpool had two great chances to open the score through a Salah solo effort and Frenchman Ugo Ekitike, which were repelled by Frenchman Ryan Cherki. But City, basking in their League Cup triumph over Arsenal 2-0, was awarded a penalty after defender Virgil van Dijk fouled young left-back Nico O'Reilly, which Erling Haaland converted opposite the Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, replacing the injured Brazilian Allison Becker (39). Haaland struck the net again before going to the dressing room with a header from a cross by Ghanaian Antoine Semenyo (45+2).City continued its procession early in the second half with a pass from Cherki that set up Semenyo to score easily (50), then Liverpool's situation became more desperate after a pinpoint pass from O'Reilly that opened the door for a Haaland hat-trick (57).Even the penalty Liverpool won after a foul from Portuguese Matheus Nunes on Ekitike, Salah missed it, shooting past goalkeeper James Trafford (64).City, the runner-up in last year's final against Crystal Palace, is seeking a fourth consecutive final appearance, then its eighth title, six short of record-holders Arsenal.Manchester City inflicted a crushing 4-0 defeat on their guests Liverpool on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the English FA Cup, a match that saw Norwegian Erling Haaland score a hat-trick and Liverpool's Egyptian star Mohamed Salah miss a penalty.Salah failed to continue his quest for a second title in the competition after the first in 2022.
