FA Cup: Haaland nets hat-trick as City knock out Liverpool, Chelsea thrash Port Vale 7–0

Haaland’s performance recorded the forward’s 28th career hat-trick.

Femi Ajanaku • April 4, 2026

Haaland[Credit: man city]

Manchester City moved to the FA Cup semi-finals, beating Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad, and Chelsea thrashed League One side Port Vale 7-0 at Stamford Bridge to progress.

At the Etihad, Manchester City edged past Liverpool with four goals, sending Pep Guardiola’s team to their eighth consecutive FA Cup semifinals.

City scored first with a huge challenge by Virgil Van Dijk on Nico O’Reilly, resulting in a penalty, with Erling Haaland converting brilliantly.

Minutes before the break, the Norwegian forward doubled the lead, which came from a fast assist from Antonio Semenyo.

After halftime, Semenyo increased the advantage to three from a pinpoint through from Rayan Cherki. In the 57th minute, Haaland was back on the scoresheet, completing his hat-trick, making it 4-0 from a brilliant assist from Nico O’reilly.

Liverpool struggled throughout the game, with numerous missed opportunities from Salah and Hugo Ekitike, and a Salah penalty was denied by James Trafford.

Haaland’s performance recorded the forward’s 28th career hat-trick, and saw him equal Sergio Agüero’s record of 12 hat-tricks at Manchester City.

City will face Chelsea next in the Premier League, while Liverpool visits Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Over in London, Chelsea thrashed Port Vale 7-0 to book their spot in the FA Cup semi-finals.

The Blues opened the game with a volley, in just 67 seconds, from left back Jorrel Hato. In the 25th minute, Joao Pedro made it two, netting a simple finish before an own goal was conceded again by the visitors from a clinical strike from Cole Plamer.

Chelsea’s pressure increased in the second half, with another goal from Tosin Adarabioyo, adding another goal with a header.

Andrey Santos then made it five-nil with another header after an assist from Estevao, who picked up his third assist of the season after a long injury layoff, and not long after, he delivered a clinical finish to make it 6-0.

The embarrassing outing for Port Vale was worsened by a clumsy challenge from Tyler Magloire on Alejandro Garnacho, which gave Chelsea a penalty and enabled Garnacho to convert to seal the 7-0 victory.

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