At Anfield, where banners, scarves and chants greeted Manchester City with unusual hostility, Enzo Maresca’s leaders produced a cold 3-0 win over Liverpool to underline their position at the Premier League summit. Jérémy Doku transformed a tense contest after the interval, with Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal leaving Andoni Iraola’s side unable to resist.
Key takeaways
- Manchester City won 3-0 at Liverpool, extending their lead over ninth-placed Liverpool to nine points.
- Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute after collecting a second yellow card for fouling Doku.
- Haaland, Doku and Rayan Cherki scored as City struck three times after the hour.
- The match was City’s first since the Premier League found the club guilty on 29 September of 115 financial-rule breaches from 2009 to 2018.
- Arsenal, the reigning champions coached by Mikel Arteta, remain second, three points behind City.
A charged afternoon on Merseyside
The financial verdict hung over the meeting long before kick-off. Liverpool supporters made their feelings clear towards a City team playing for the first time after the Premier League’s ruling, creating an especially abrasive atmosphere for a fixture already rich in rivalry.
Iraola had fresh selection problems. Dominik Szoboszlai was ruled out late with a hamstring issue, joining Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, whose absences had been confirmed on Friday. Lewis Koumas, aged 21, was handed his first Premier League start as Liverpool’s central forward and acquitted himself well.
The opening half was fierce rather than fluent. Víctor Muñoz was Liverpool’s most threatening player and repeatedly tested City’s Nico O’Reilly, selected at left-back ahead of Josko Gvardiol. Muñoz had the clearest chance before the break but directed his effort into the side netting. Antoine Semenyo was City’s liveliest attacker, although neither side found a goal before half-time.
Doku supplies the decisive surge
Liverpool emerged with greater purpose after the restart. Koumas and Gravenberch both forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into smart saves from outside the box, while Alexis Mac Allister sent another attempt wide. For a brief spell, the home side appeared to have found the extra energy missing earlier.
City were not initially sharp themselves. Erling Haaland wasted an excellent opening after Milos Kerkez made an error and Semenyo supplied the pass. Yet Maresca’s introduction of Doku in the 56th minute changed the balance of the game.
The Belgian winger immediately unsettled Liverpool, and Gravenberch’s second booking for bringing him down reduced the hosts to 10 men. Two minutes later, Doku created the breakthrough, laying the ball into Haaland’s path for a left-footed finish in the 64th minute.
Doku then scored himself four minutes later, collecting Elliot Anderson’s pass and doubling City’s advantage. Cherki completed the result in the 78th minute, exchanging passes with Gvardiol before finishing a fine move.
It was a bruising first league defeat for Iraola as Liverpool manager and left his team ninth in the standings. For City, navigating a psychologically difficult week, the result brought a commanding response on one of English football’s most demanding away stages.
