Van Dijk blasts Liverpool after 4-0 FA Cup thrashing by Man City: “We gave up and let everyone down” | OneFootball

Virgil van Dijk has said Liverpool gave up during the club's FA Cup exit at Manchester City.

Liverpool were thrashed 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the Etihad to continue a difficult period for Arne Slot's side.

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick for the home side, with Van Dijk conceding the penalty for the Norwegian's opener. Antoine Semenyo also scored for the Citizens, who booked their place in the semi-finals with a comfortable win.

Liverpool have now lost 15 games in all competitions this season and Van Dijk said the nature of the performance was unacceptable.

He said the Reds 'let down' the fans and questioned the fight of the side after conceding a third goal early into the second half.

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

"Obviously you come out with the right intentions from the dressing room [after half-time], to hopefully score for 2-1 as soon as possible to change the game.

"The opposite happens and to come back from 3-0 is obviously very difficult here - but also you shouldn't give up and that's maybe, at a certain point, what happened.

"We let our fans down, we let ourselves down, and the manager.

"The way we played in the second half, especially, must hurt for everyone. It definitely hurts me."

Liverpool face Paris Saint-Germain in theChampions League quarter-finals on Wednesday and Van Dijk said the Reds need 'something special' to save their season.

"If we want to make something out of this season, then we have to try and produce something special the next three games," the Dutchman added.

"I'm trying to think how we can turn this round. We've been going through this almost 75% of the season.

"We fall back into games where we get beaten on intensity or how much you really want to go for it. It's a difficult one to take and everyone has to look at themselves."