What we learned from ‘guilty’ Man City’s win over Liverpool at Anfield

Despite the hostile atmosphere created by Liverpool at Anfield for Sunday’s fiery clash, it was leaders Manchester City who had the last laugh with a superb 3-0 victory to maintain their perfect start to the Premier League season.

The noise centred on off-pitch matters as City returned to action after a bombshell ruling by an independent commission found them guilty of breaking more than 100 Premier League financial rules.

Enzo Maresca’s side could not have chosen a worse venue to restart their campaign after the guilty verdict.

Anfield for years has dished out an angry welcome to City.

How City made their ‘own noise’

On Sunday, the vitriol was at its highest with flags reading “cheats” and “114 charges”, a common sight in the merchandise on sale.

But even as the red smoke engulfed Merseyside and chants of “Cheating bastards” rang around the stadium, none of it could derail the defiant Manchester team, who turned the game around in six second-half minutes.

Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute, reducing Liverpool to 10 men.

City capitalised on the one-player advantage as Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku scored in quick succession before Rayan Cherki added another, silencing the noisy Kop end of Anfield.

“It was not easy for the players after the last two or three weeks, but they dealt with the situation very well,” Maresca said after the match.

“I said during the week we need to learn how to deal with the outside noise but make our own noise, which is to win games. Our fans were singing at the end, so the noise was from us.”

Haaland, this season’s leading Premier League scorer with six goals, looked close to tears after the victory, which he described as a “lovely moment” and one that he said would stay with troubled City for a long time.

“It’s time to stay strong and stick together and do what you can do something about – stick together,” he added.

City win, but Premier League stuck in limbo

While City emerged unscathed from Sunday’s hostile face-off, the victory highlighted the uncertainty that now surrounds the remainder of the Premier League season.

Maresca’s side are at the top of the table with 18 points and a 100 percent record. Yet those results could count for nothing unless City, who deny any financial wrongdoing, are successful in their appeal against the guilty verdict.

No sanctions have been decided yet, but if City’s appeal fails, potential punishments include a significant point deduction and expulsion from the Premier League.

There is even the prospect of three Premier League titles being stripped from City, who won them from 2009 to 2018, the period to which the charges relate.

This guilty verdict on widespread financial impropriety thus leaves a question mark over every City result and what it means for other clubs.

“This is really bad for the Premier League, and it’s going to continue for a few months,” former Manchester United captain-turned-pundit Gary Neville told Sky Sports.

Earlier, Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola stressed that “the uncertainty is not good for anyone” while ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said he hoped the appeal process does not drag on for months.

“There’s no way this can carry on to the end of the season because we’re all getting kidded,” Carragher said.

Then there is also the debate about City’s past successes. Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane argued that any title City won while engaging in financial wrongdoing would be difficult to celebrate.

“Some people might think it’s a bit stronger, but I wouldn’t feel I have earned a league title if I thought there was something dodgy going on in the background. Absolutely not,” he said.

“We talk about lads going out, giving their all and picking up injuries, … but that is your job. But you hope everyone is on the same page, being honest and doing things the proper way.”

What’s next for City and the Premier League?

Moments after City’s players broke into celebrations at the final whistle, Anfield’s DJ played the Fleetwood Mac song Little Lies over the loudspeakers.

Many would argue that was Liverpool’s, and by extension, their fans’ final act of defiance, but it certainly won’t be the last hostile reception City face at stadiums across England and beyond this season.

From now on, every time a team loses to City, their players and fans may be left feeling robbed.

Such is the state of the Premier League right now when its best-performing team is also its most controversial team.

Much of this stems from the uncertainty that City and 19 other clubs in the top flight are facing. What’s next? What sanctions, if any, await City? Will they be stripped of their titles?

“The Premier League have given their verdict, but we know that these things take time,” a Liverpool supporter told Al Jazeera outside Anfield on Sunday. “Hopefully, it doesn’t take years to discover what the end product is going to be.

“It’s heartbreaking. Having been a Liverpool fan for over 20 years, we’ve come close so many times, getting to 98 points, losing by one point. Those are the fine margins. … We could’ve been on 22 Premier League trophies.”