The Independent
11. lokakuuta 2026
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Manchester City ran riot at Anfield after a red card for Ryan Gravenberch helped them secure a 3-0 win over Liverpool in their first match since the seismic guilty verdict over breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
The league leaders were welcomed with a hostile reception in a frenetic start at Anfield, though neither side could create clear-cut chances despite threatening in a frantic first half
Liverpool were arguably the better of the two sides and they started the second half well, putting pressure on the visitors before Gravenberch was given a second yellow card for bringing down Jeremy Doku.
Enzo Maresca’s side dominated from the moment the Dutchman went off, with Erling Haaland opening the scoring a few minutes later with an emphatic finish before Doku added a second with a superb curled effort.
And there was still time for Rayan Cherki to add a brilliant third, the Frenchman dummying past Frimpong before slipping a cool finish past Alisson to keep City’s 100% winning record intact and send them three points clear at the summit of the Premier League.
Three brilliant finishes, and possibly the only ending this freak match was ever going to have.
Manchester City abrasively drive on amidst it all, absolutely revelling in a 3-0 win at Liverpool, but nobody knows what it will actually mean.
Few, outside the City fans in the relished moments of celebration, even know what to feel.
It does highlight the very absurdity of the situation, as the Abu Dhabi-owned club get to have this act of defiance, and the rest of the league gets even more furious about it all.
Liverpool 0-3 Manchester City: Jeremy Doku transformed the game from the bench after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for two yellow cards
Pep Guardiola will return to Manchester City to watch next week’s game against Paris Saint-Germain in another sign he is continuing to stand by his former club after they were found guilty of 114 charges levelled by the Premier League.
The Catalan, who posted a message on Instagram in support of the club’s owners and executives, had long insisted they were innocent of the charges of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
Guardiola stood down in the summer, before an independent commission concluded City used “sham” contracts to boost their revenue by over £900m over a nine-year period.
The former manager will watch the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday
Manchester City find themselves at the centre of the biggest story in Premier League history as they face potential relegation or expulsion from a division they currently lead, after being found guilty of nearly all of the 115 charges levied against them.
But this scandal had humble beginnings.
Rui Pinto is the Portuguese hacker who blew the whistle on City’s financial cheating, prompting an entire Premier League investigation.
Through his website Football Leaks, he published confidential documents that showed City broke league rules over a nine-season period in 2018. German newspaper Der Spiegel’s subsequent investigative report detailing allegations against City was based on these documents.
Pinto, the hacker who first revealed Man City’s financial cheating, has discovered he will lose his witness protection
“The attitude coming into this game, all they could do was play their best. When you're in a dressing room and there's accusations flying around, the players will have wanted to go out there and put on a show,” said Micah Richards on Sky.
“The two yellows were soft but Jeremy Doku changed the game coming on.
“They really delivered today against the noise and that was a perfect game against Liverpool,” he added.
Money has long been a theme in meetings of Liverpool against Manchester City. It promised to be once again when the transfer window concluded. This, it seemed, was set to be the first Premier League game to feature five £100m men and both of those who share the British record as the £125m buys. Then, after the independent commission’s verdict on City cast some of their past spending in a different light, came what might be deemed less dramatic news: Alexander Isak is injured.
Not for the first time, either, but not seriously, Andoni Iraola believes. So instead there could be two players on each side who cost nine-figure sums: the Liverpool duo of Florian Wirtz, whose £100m fee could rise to £116m, and Bradley Barcola, who joined for £106m, which could go up to £123m, and the City midfield pair of the £116m Elliot Anderson and the £125m Enzo Fernandez.
Manchester City’s trip to Anfield will be more highly charged than ever after the revelations of their financial misconduct, but the meeting of the two sides also highlights different attitudes to money at the top of the Premier League
“Very happy, we know how tough it is to come here. From the start it was very intense - we're all happy to win the game,” says Jeremy Doku after the full-time whistle.
“Coming to Anfield is always intense. I have always experienced intense games here, that's what we expected. Proud of my team, we dealt with it well."
On what Enzo Maresca said as he came on: "He just told me where I was going to play, when you're on the bench you're looking for a way to impact the game and I did that."
“I don't want to take credit for this, there's someone higher than me that is giving me the ability to do these things."
On whether City players have talked about what is happening away from the pitch, he added: “I'm just here to talk about the game. We prepared well for the game, happy that we won.”
Maybe it was just a coincidence. Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly gave the ball, and as a result goals, away. Rodri flew into a rash, and uncharacteristic, challenge and conceded a penalty, if not a goal when Harry Kane struck the bar.
The common denominator, besides the fact each happened in Spain’s 3-2 win over England, is that they were Manchester City teammates last season. Thomas Tuchel denied his two defenders were distracted by the events of the previous day. It would be understandable if they were.
Rodri, too. For City alumni like him, there are legacies on the line. For the current squad, there are rather greater implications from the revelations the club has been found guilty of 114 of the charges the Premier League levelled. If so, City are highly likely to appeal.
They are conscious at the Etihad Stadium that Uefa gave them a two-year Champions League ban in 2020 and it was later overturned. None of which guarantees a repeat and a reprieve now. With punishments potentially including huge points penalties and, directly or indirectly, ending up out of the Premier League, there might be an existential threat, even before factoring in the chance other clubs could take legal action against City which could radically reshape their finances.
With the likes of Erling Haaland, tied to the Etihad until 2034, committed to Man City in the long-term, Richard Jolly ponders the instability facing numerous players should a guilty verdict against the club over financial breaches be confirmed
Manchester City were met with boos and chants by aggrieved Liverpool supporters as the team took to the pitch at Anfield for their first match since being found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
The club were charged with 115 breaches of the rules by the Premier League in 2023 and an independent commission investigated the allegations and found City guilty of the majority of them. The club, who maintain their innocence, have launched an appeal against the verdict and claim to have “irrefutable evidence” proving their stance.
The outcome of that appeal is not expected to be known until December or January at the earliest and City find themselves in a state of limbo with the guilty verdict attached to them until the case moves on.
City travelled to Anfield for their first Premier League match since an indepedent commission found them guilty of breaching financial rules
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Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has praised the “character” of his teammates after they earned a brilliant 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield in their first match since the announcement of a guilty verdict for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
The league leaders came into the game after a whirlwind three weeks that ended with the club launching an appeal over the guilty verdict, but while their first game looked like a stern test at Anfield, they passed it with flying colours with the help of a Ryan Gravenberch red card.
After an even first half, the Dutchman was sent off just after the hour mark for a second yellow card offence and City took the lead a few minutes later, with Haaland firing an emphatic finish past Alisson.
The league leaders earned a 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield in their first match since the Premier League’s guilty verdict was announced
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