Mohamed Salah reacts after missing a penalty
Liverpool will look back at one moment more than any other.
Mohamed Salah had the chance to pull them back into the game from the spot in the 41st minute, but his penalty was saved, and from that point, it slipped away.
Before then, Manchester City had already done damage. Erling Haaland struck in the 12th minute, sharp inside the box, and added another in the 28th as City took control early.
Salah’s miss came at a time Liverpool needed something to hold on to.
Instead, it left them chasing a game that was already getting away.
Haaland returned after the break to complete his hat-trick in the 55th minute, punishing another lapse at the back.
By the time Antoine Semenyo added a fourth in the 78th minute, the contest was long decided.
Liverpool are out, and they have that missed penalty to think about.
Arsenal followed them out of the competition not long after, beaten 2-1 by Southampton.
It started badly for Arsenal.
Southampton went ahead in the 19th minute, and for a while, it looked like one of those nights.
Arsenal settled and got their equaliser in the 34th minute, bringing it back to 1-1 and steadying things.
But they couldn’t build on it.
Southampton struck again in the 67th minute, and that goal held.
Arsenal pushed, kept the ball, tried to force something late on, but it just wouldn’t come.
That defeat does more than end their FA Cup run. It shuts the door on any talk of a treble this season, leaving them with two competitions to fight for.
So in the space of one round, both Liverpool and Arsenal are out.
One undone by a missed chance at a key moment. The other caught out by a side that stayed disciplined and took theirs.
Cup football can turn quickly. This time, it did.
