BBC host Mark Chapman can only laugh at Liverpool's calamitous Man City display

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Liverpool lost to Manchester City to crash out of the FA Cup and the Reds' defending was criticized – particularly for the goal that Antoine Semenyo scored shortly after half-time

Antoine Semenyo scored City's third goal against Liverpool(Image: 2026 Getty Images)

Liverpool came in for criticism for its defending for Manchester City's third goal in Saturday's FA Cup clash at the Etihad Stadium.

The Reds were trailing 2-0 after a first-half brace from Erling Haaland, and a good start to the second half was essential if Arne Slot's men were to have any chance of getting back in the game.

However, the game was effectively over within a few minutes of the restart as Antoine Semenyo made it 3-0 with a dinked finish past Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Semenyo's goal came just seconds after a Liverpool throw-in, which was taken by Joe Gomez and landed straight at the feet of Marc Guehi.

Guehi passed the ball to Nico O'Reilly, who found Bernardo Silva, who then threaded a pass in behind Virgil van Dijk for Semenyo to run on to and score.

The goal was analysed on BBC Radio 5 Live, with host Mark Chapman laughing as he asked former women's player Rachel Corsie for her verdict

"Rachel, do I come back to you on the defending again?" Chapman said.

Corsie responded: "Terrible. I think if you want to annoy your manager, the best way to do it is to concede just after half-time from your own throw-in, in your own final third.

"It's calamitous. I mean, it's really sloppy. You're going to get out to the ball, you're going to be aggressive — can't let runners off your shoulder.

Liverpool lost 4-0 to crash out of the FA Cup(Image: 2026 Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)

"Even the throw-in itself is questionable. That's where it starts, and it doesn't get any better from there."

Arne Slot is coming under increasing pressure from Liverpool fans for the team's form this season, and Saturday's loss to City was the Reds' 15th defeat in all competitions in 2025-26.

Slot made it clear that he was not pleased with the team's showing in Manchester in his post-game press conference.

"I don’t think you have to ask me about the result, because that speaks for itself," Slot said. "That’s an unbelievable disappointment.

"Losing is already a disappointment, losing with 4-0 and in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against a team which Liverpool played so many times great games against – or fights against – and then losing 4-0 is, of course, a big disappointment.

"The 20 minutes where we conceded four goals were not of our standards."