It was Van Dijk's foul on Nico O'Reilly which gave Erling Haaland the opportunity to kickstart City's demolition job from the penalty spot after 39 minutes.

The Norway striker went on to complete a hat-trick in the second half with 57 minutes played, after Antoine Semenyo had added his side's third.

The result and performance increases the pressure on manager Arne Slot, who led the club to the Premier League title in his first season in charge last year, before the first leg of their crucial Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris St-Germain.

On his manager, Van Dijk said: "It's a together thing, isn't it? Obviously he's responsible as the manager but we are the ones on the pitch that have to do it.

"The matter of fact is now, PSG are waiting for us. I watched them Friday a little bit. It will be so tough again. So we have to be ready mentally as soon as possible."

Liverpool travel to Paris on Wednesday (20:00 BST), before hosting the French champions the following Tuesday.

Fifth in the Premier League, they host Fulham between those matches in another key fixture in their...