Arne Slot slammed Liverpool's 'missing fighting spirit' after a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick, with Antoine Semenyo adding another, as City reached their eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final. The result heaps pressure on Slot ahead of Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Liverpool started brightly but capitulated by conceding four goals in a 21-minute spell either side of half-time. Haaland converted a penalty in the 39th minute, headed in before the break, and added a third with a hooked shot after 57 minutes. Semenyo scored City's other goal as the visitors' defence fell apart.
Slot admitted his side lacked fight after the interval. 'I missed the fighting spirit in the first 10 minutes after half-time,' he said. 'The willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for a pass or a cross or a finish. That is something we definitely have to do better on Wednesday.'
Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai echoed his coach's verdict. 'The fighting spirit wasn't there enough, the mentality wasn't there enough,' he said. 'None of us were there as much as we could. It's hard to find words to be honest.'
This was Liverpool's 15th defeat of the campaign, their most since 2014-15. Slot acknowledged the need for a response against PSG. 'There are only three or four days, so there are a few things you can do,' he said. 'We need to defend better than we did in the 20 minutes when we conceded the four goals.'
Mohamed Salah, in his first game since announcing his departure at the end of the season, missed four chances, including a late penalty. Slot refused to single out individuals, saying: 'The amount of goals we score is far too low for the chances we created and definitely for the Liverpool standard.'
