‘Cheats’ silence angry fans in chaotic Premier League return
Furious Liverpool fans taunted Manchester City with cries of “cheats” as the under-siege Premier League leaders returned to the pitch for the first time since being found guilty of 114 financial breaches.
But while City’s long-term fate remains uncertain - with the possibility of relegation and even titles being stripped - the crack squad let their football do the talking at a highly charged Anfield on Monday (AEDT).
Liverpool fans display a banner. Getty Images
City outclassed 10-man Liverpool 3-0 with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scoring goals after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute.
“It was not easy for the players after the last two or three weeks,” City manager Enzo Maresca said.
“We need to learn how to deal with the outside noise because of the situation and the noise will be always there.
“So we need to learn how to deal with that, but at the same time we need to try to make our noise. That is win games like we have done today because at the end of the game, I think our fans they were singing, so the noise was from us, not from Liverpool.
“That’s why I’m saying that we need to learn how to deal with noise, but at the same time we need to make our noise. Our noise is: who is singing at the end? This has to be our target at this moment.”
City are three points clear of defending champions Arsenal at the top of the table after winning all six of their games so far.
It was a statement win - especially after such a hostile reception.
“They should be stripped of everything they’ve won,” Liverpool fan Sav Agathangelo said.
“The moment has gone for me to say in the season when we finish second, we’re champions.
“I would strip them of everything, but I wouldn’t necessarily award it to runners-up or anyone else.”
City’s team bus has been targeted by Liverpool fans in the past.
Fans of Manchester City celebrate. Getty Images
On this occasion City largely avoided the home fans by taking an alternative route to the stadium.
Inside, however, there was quickly a taste of things to come as the City lineup was jeered, and the boos were even louder by kickoff, with chants of “cheat, cheat” and taunts of “going down.”
It is not yet known what the future holds for City after an independent panel found the club artificially inflated its revenue by more than $1.7 billion to help sign some of football’s biggest stars and dominate the Premier League.
But for now, they are sitting pretty at the top of the standings with a 100 per cent winning record and looking down on its rivals.
Gravenberch was sent off for a second booking following a foul on Doku.
Liverpool Andoni Iraola complained about the decision from referee Chris Kavanagh.
“Sixty minutes before the red card, players were very good,” Iraola said.
“From then, City was obviously better than us. I didn’t like the refereeing today. The first yellow card was nothing. It’s a normal foul with 20 players behind the ball. As a referee, you put yourself in trouble and us in trouble.”
City were accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 - a span in which it won three league titles and signed superstar players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Agüero and Kevin De Bruyne.
It has appealed, but potential sanctions could include a massive fine, points deductions or even expulsion from England’s top flight.
“Cheats never prosper, or so we are told,” The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown wrote.
“But this homespun wisdom might need to be revised after Manchester City, pariahs of the Premier League, announced their return by crushing Liverpool with an ease that bordered on contemptuous.
“Naturally, their players and fans milked the moment, celebrating as if this 3-0 victory somehow conferred legitimacy on the idea of fraudulently spending your way to glory. Inflatable bananas, an ecstatic Noel Gallagher, obscene chants at Gary Neville as he appeared at pitchside for Sky Sports: it was a celebration of truly monumental conceit.”
City have denied wrongdoing throughout the case and said the commission’s opinion contains “clear material errors.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would publish details of his dealings with City, after opposition politicians criticised his response to a ruling that found the club guilty of serious breaches.
“I’ve been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I’m happy to do, and I’m going to,” Burnham said in The Rest is Politics podcast.
"I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester."
Burnham, who served as the mayor from 2017-2026, said his contacts with the club were not recent.
"None of it is recent, actually, in terms of the meetings I had. I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021," he said.
Burnham expressed concern in September that City’s owners could sell the club after the guilty verdict, saying they had been “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester” and “in turning the club into a global force.”
Meanwhile, Mohamed Belloumi came off the bench to maintain Hull City’s impressive start to the season by salvaging a 2-2 draw against Everton.
Joe Gelhardt of Hull City celebrates. Getty Images
The newly promoted team has lost just once this season and went ahead shortly after halftime at the MKM Stadium through Joe Gelhardt.
Everton rallied through goals by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry to take a 2-1 lead.
But Belloumi, who was a 64th-minute substitute, found the equaliser 10 minutes after coming on.
Hull’s Socceroos centre back Lucas Herrington was an unused substitute after Nobel Mendy returned from concussion to take his place in the starting lineup.
Elsewhere, Oliver Glasner fell to a 3-1 defeat on his return to Crystal Palace with new club Nottingham Forest.
Glasner is a Palace hero after winning the FA Cup, Community Shield and UEFA Conference League as coach.
He left at the end of last season and took over at Forest.
Oliver Glasner of Nottingham Forest acknowledges the fans. Getty Images
Palace rallied after Dan Ndoye put Forest in front in the third minute at Selhurst Park.
Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma both struck for the home team at the end of the first half and Yeremy Pino added a third after the break.
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