Manchester City made light work of the challenge that is Anfield, and their class, coupled with their siege mentality, could see them claim a Premier League title despite their guilty charges. The 3-0 win on Sunday means they have won all six of their games this season, a perfect start to their Premier League campaign.
At the final whistle, even the Liverpool fans struggled to muster another chant. Eventually, the Kop began to sing: “Going down, going down” as the Manchester City fans celebrated up the other end with their giant inflatable bananas.
City rise above the hostility
City just refused to follow the script. The anger was there. The atmosphere was furious, loud and red-hot. For so much of the day, the game was completely secondary. Millions tuned in on Sky to see how City would react. The fans inside Anfield tried to intimidate City as they chanted “sham” and “cheats.” They booed with every breath. It was exactly what we expected.
But City rose above it all and produced a brilliant, defiant performance as they ultimately outclassed a ragged, injury-hit Liverpool who finished the game with ten men after Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal. Erling Haaland opened the scoring with a ruthless finish, Jeremy Doku curled a Goal of the Season contender into the top corner and then Rayan Cherki danced his way through Liverpool’s creaking defence to score a third.
The threat to the league's integrity
Lest we forget that City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League spending rules and yet, while we wait for the appeal and the punishment to be dished out, their expensively assembled squad can carry on winning. They will face this every time they play away from home and yet, on this evidence, Enzo Maresca has invoked a siege mentality in the face of everything thrown at them.
And that has got the potential to turn this whole season into an utter farce. City are way too good for most opponents - including Liverpool. But they could end up winning the title this season unless this case is not put to bed once and for all. And the real danger is the so-called best league in the world could lose its integrity and reputation. But will this result even count in a few weeks? We simply don’t know. And that will go for all of City’s fixtures in the next few weeks. The uncertainty is no good for anyone.
A test passed comfortably
We expected this to be a huge test for City - but they passed it comfortably. Easily, in fact. If they can survive the bear pit of Anfield, they can survive anything. Football’s hand of fate served up this fixture and occasion but City refused to buckle.
The first half was far more equal as Liverpool, without three key players in Alexander Isak, Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo, rose to the challenge. They showed heart, courage and every full bloodied challenge was greeted with cheers. Liverpool dug deep. Gravenberch typified Liverpool’s performance as he was terrific in midfield. But the game changed completely when Gravenberch was shown two yellow cards in the space of 15 minutes, the second of which came for a foul on Doku after 62 minutes. The first felt harsh for a foul on Elliot Anderson but the second was warranted.
After that, Liverpool had no chance. They were ruthlessly taken apart by City’s brilliance. It was lambs to the slaughter and these look difficult times for Andoni Iraola. New players are still finding their feet. Bradley Barcola was underwhelming. Florian Wirtz was so poor and has yet to find a level of consistency. Yes, they are missing players but other big players did not step up. Passion and emotion can only carry you so far.
City’s quality was the defining factor in the game. They took a 65th minute lead through Haaland’s ruthless finish. Doku’s shot was blocked by Alexis Mac Allister and then Haaland swept home. Three minutes later, Doku scored with a world class effort, cutting in from the left wing and then curling a dipping shot into the top corner. Cherki, who was magnificent throughout, then danced his way through the Liverpool defence and then slotted past Liverpool keeper Alisson to complete the win. The atmosphere was what we expected but City simply refused to play the victims.
