Liverpool 'gave up' during 4-0 defeat by Man City in FA Cup quarter-final, says captain Virgil van Dijk

 

Liverpool were beaten 4-0 by Man City in the FA Cup quarter-finals, their 15th defeat of the season; Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick and Antoine Semenyo netted before Mo Salah's penalty was saved; Virgil van Dijk said: "We let our fans down, we let ourselves down, and the manager."

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk accused his team of giving up and apologised to fans following their FA Cup humiliation at Manchester City. 

The Reds' hopes of salvaging domestic silverware from a disappointing season were crushed in a 4-0 quarter-final defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. 

After an evenly-matched opening half-hour, the visitors capitulated after Van Dijk fouled Nico O'Reilly and Erling Haaland scored the resulting penalty before Haaland went on to complete a hat-trick as City struck four times in a devastating 18-minute spell spanning the interval.

Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai claimed his team-mates lacked the mentality to recover from the setback and boss Arne Slot agreed that their reaction to Haaland's opener was not good enough. 

Van Dijk said: "I can only apologise to the fans for what we have shown, especially the second half.