Manchester City arrived at Anfield carrying the weight of a guilty verdict on 114 Premier League financial-rule breaches, then left with the sort of emphatic 3-0 win that silences a stadium, if not the wider argument. Liverpool’s supporters made their feelings clear before and during the match; Enzo Maresca’s side made theirs clear on the pitch.
Key takeaways
- City’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool was their first fixture since being found guilty of 114 financial breaches.
- Anfield displayed banners branding City “cheats” and calling for a severe sporting punishment.
- Some City supporters accepted that the club had done wrong, while others anticipated a much lighter sanction.
- Fans also questioned whether Pep Guardiola’s summer departure was linked to the looming consequences.
- Despite fears over the case, travelling supporters continued to back chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and the club’s ownership.
Anfield’s demand and City’s answer
Liverpool supporters treated the afternoon as more than a meeting with the club that has so often stood in their way over the past decade. Scarves and placards trained on City’s financial case appeared around Anfield, including signs placing the word “cheats” beside images of major signings whose legitimacy is now under scrutiny.
The mood among the home crowd was unforgiving. Fans called for City to be relegated, with some arguing that any title won this season should later be removed before repeated demotions followed every future promotion. Others said the club had disgraced English football and deserved a punishment to match the scale of the case.
Yet the football offered Liverpool no comfort. Maresca’s team brushed aside the hosts 3-0, turning an intended day of judgement into a demonstration of their strength. For City, it was perhaps the one verdict available immediately: decisive, clean on the scoreboard and delivered in the most hostile setting possible.
Supporters fear what comes after the final whistle
Among City fans, there was little of the usual certainty that accompanies a successful side. One younger supporter said the club’s guilt was beyond doubt, a striking admission from someone who has never known City outside the Premier League’s upper reaches.
His companion took a more hopeful view, suggesting that the likely outcome might be no meaningful action at all, or at worst a single transfer window without signings. Another supporter expected far tougher consequences, saying the ownership had cheated and that supporters would ultimately have to bear the cost of it.
Guardiola’s decision to leave in the summer also prompted suspicion. One City fan said it was difficult to separate the manager’s departure from what was coming, believing he knew what lay ahead. Another agreed completely, though both recognised Guardiola as one of the defining figures in the club’s modern history.
There remains affection, too, for the Abu Dhabi-backed ownership led by Khaldoon Al Mubarak. On the journey home from Anfield, City followers sang the chant first heard at their local rivals’ ground, declaring their devotion to Khaldoon and promising to follow the club even as far down as League Two.
That is the split City now inhabit. On the field, they look close to untouchable. Away from it, even sections of their own support are beginning to contemplate a drop of a very different kind. Anfield’s decision was 3-0; the larger one is still to come.
