Liverpool supporters made their feelings clear over Manchester City's guilty verdicts before the match at Anfield turned on a red card. The recent verdicts for City regarding 114 charges of Premier League financial rule breaches confirmed the suspicions of Reds supporters that their closely-fought battles with the Etihad side over the previous 15 years constituted something of an unfair fight.
Hostile welcome from the Kop
From the moment the City players stepped out for the warm-up, Anfield made their feelings known, the jeers eventually reaching a crescendo when a packed home crowd greeted Enzo Maresca's side shortly before kick-off. Then came the chants. "You cheating b******s, you know what you are" was the most popular, while "You haven't won a trophy since 1976" was a reference to the possibility the honours won under their Abu Dhabi owners will forever be tainted if not ultimately expunged from the record books.
The banners had a similar tone. "All of your stars are fading away" paraphrased a song from famed City supporters Oasis, along with one that declared "and after all you really won f*** all". But perhaps the most pointed was the one draped on the side of the Kop which simply read "A generation of supporters cheated", succinctly encapsulating the true feelings of not just Liverpool fans but those from other clubs who scrapped with City during the recent era.
Away end response and match turning point
The away end responded with a show of inflatable bananas, harking back to the late 1980s when such terrace attire was en vogue at Maine Road. With a scratch Liverpool side holding their own, the home crowd sensed a scalp and, on 58 minutes after Victor Munoz had been fouled by Nico O'Reilly, they rose to their feet waving their scarves in a spontaneous show of support.
Four minutes later Ryan Gravenberch was shown a second harsh yellow card by referee Chris Kavanagh and two quickfire City goals ended the game as a contest. Come the closing moments, every City touch was greeted with huge chants of "cheat" from the Kop which then taunted the visitors with chants of "going down".
Final rendition and focus ahead
But one final rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was a reminder Liverpool can now only concentrate on themselves. After all, they may not welcome City here for a very long time.
