Manchester City beat 10-man Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday, their first match since being found guilty on more than 100 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules. The result came despite the threat of severe sanctions hanging over the club.
Second-half goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki extended City’s unbeaten start under Enzo Maresca. Ryan Gravenberch had been sent off for two yellow cards earlier in the match. The win restores City’s three-point lead at the top of the table, although any title challenge depends on the outcome of the club’s appeal.
Verdict, possible sanctions and the appeal
An independent commission found that City and their Emirati owners arranged “sham” deals to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.2bn) between 2009 and 2018. The commission’s findings describe widespread financial impropriety.
No sanction has yet been imposed. However, a severe points deduction or even expulsion from the English top flight is on the table unless City overturn the decision. Speculation has also surfaced that there could be retrospective action to strip titles.
The breaches came during a period in which City won three league titles and a clutch of other trophies. City’s rivals, however, believe the illegal spending also laid the foundations for a golden era under former boss Pep Guardiola, who left at the end of last season.
Anfield welcome and anger among Liverpool supporters
City arrived at Anfield under a police escort, with a hostile reception expected. There was no repeat of the violent scenes from 2018, when their team bus was pelted with bottles ahead of a Champions League match.
Liverpool fans lined the streets to greet the visitors with chants of “cheats” and “going down”. Merchandise stalls were covered in flags and scarves mocking City’s financial scandal. In the famous Kop end, a banner read “a generation of supporters cheated.”
Liverpool fan Martin Reilly, 23, told a news agency that the club had lost many moments and memories that could not be recovered. “They have to throw the book at them,” he said. Liverpool have finished second to City three times in the past 12 years, and the club is among those considered most affected by the case.
Haaland, Doku and Cherki settle the contest
The rivalry between Guardiola’s City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool had become the Premier League’s marquee event in recent years. This time, however, Liverpool failed to rise to the occasion on the pitch.
New Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola was without the injured Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, which limited his options. The Spaniard suffered the first defeat of his time in charge. The home side briefly threatened at the start of the second half when Lewis Koumas, making his first Premier League start, was denied a goal by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
City’s quality soon told. Maresca brought Doku off the bench early in the second half, and within minutes the Belgian winger had been fouled by Gravenberch, who was shown a second booking. Liverpool never recovered. Doku’s deflected shot was then smashed home by Haaland to break the deadlock 25 minutes from time. Three minutes later, Doku curled a stunning strike into the top corner himself.
Cherki completed the scoring after a sharp one-two with Josko Gvardiol, slotting the ball under Alisson Becker. City midfielder Eliot Anderson told reporters that his side had shown “courage” to win in a hostile atmosphere. “We have shown togetherness and fight, this is tough place to come and we have shown courage,” he said. He added that the crowd noise was more than normal at the start, but that City quietened the home fans and improved after the break.
