Manchester City extended its perfect Premier League start with goals from Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki after Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch was sent off.
Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, October 11, 2026, overcoming a hostile crowd and growing controversy over the club’s financial misconduct verdict. The Premier League leaders scored three second-half goals after Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was sent off, extending City’s perfect start to six consecutive league victories.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 65th minute, followed by Jérémy Doku three minutes later. Rayan Cherki completed the victory in the 78th minute, leaving Liverpool with its first Premier League defeat of the season.
The result came less than two weeks after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial regulations. The club has appealed the September 29 verdict and continues to deny wrongdoing.
Liverpool supporters used Sunday’s highly anticipated match to express their anger over the findings. Boos, hostile chants and banners greeted the visitors as tensions surrounding one of English football’s biggest financial investigations spilled into the stadium.
One banner declared, “A generation of supporters cheated,” reflecting frustration among fans who believe City’s financial advantages affected previous title races.
Other banners featured references to Oasis, the Manchester band whose members Liam and Noel Gallagher are longtime City supporters. One displayed a variation on the lyrics of Wonderwall, accusing City of depriving rival supporters of success.
Images portraying former City manager Pep Guardiola and prominent players in prison-style clothing also appeared among the protests. Supporters used the displays to criticize the club’s conduct and demand accountability.
Security was increased around the stadium, with particular attention given to City’s arrival. Officials were mindful of an incident in April 2018 when Liverpool supporters attacked the Manchester City team bus before a Champions League quarterfinal.
On Sunday, City took an alternative route to the stadium to avoid potential confrontations. Despite the heightened security and hostile atmosphere, the match proceeded without a reported repeat of the 2018 bus attack.
City supporters responded to the protests with chants of their own. Some displayed inflatable bananas, recalling a longstanding tradition among the club’s fans dating back to the 1980s.
The match itself began as a closely contested encounter, with neither team able to establish a decisive advantage before halftime.
Liverpool attempted to disrupt City’s passing movements and create opportunities through its attacking players. City remained patient, circulating possession and searching for openings against the home side’s defense.
The turning point arrived in the 62nd minute when Gravenberch received a second yellow card and was dismissed by referee Chris Kavanagh. The decision left Liverpool with 10 players and dramatically changed the balance of the contest.
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola disputed the dismissal and argued that the decision had a major influence on the match. Until that moment, Liverpool had remained competitive against the league leaders.
City needed only three minutes to exploit its numerical advantage.
Haaland opened the scoring after a deflected delivery reached him inside the penalty area. The Norwegian striker converted the opportunity to put City ahead and silence much of the home crowd.
Doku doubled the advantage in the 68th minute with a curling finish from the left side of the penalty area. His goal gave City control and forced Liverpool to take greater risks despite being a player short.
Cherki completed the scoring 10 minutes later after a coordinated attacking movement involving his teammates. His finish capped an impressive second-half performance and secured City’s sixth league victory of the campaign.
The 3-0 result moved Manchester City three points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table. City finished the weekend with 18 points from six matches, while Liverpool dropped to ninth after suffering its first league defeat.
City manager Enzo Maresca praised his players for remaining focused despite the difficult atmosphere. He acknowledged that the opening half had been challenging but said the team improved significantly after the interval.
Maresca also emphasized that his responsibility was to prepare the players for football matches rather than become distracted by events surrounding the club’s legal dispute.
The victory continued an impressive beginning to his tenure. Maresca became only the fourth manager to win his first six Premier League matches, placing him among a small group of coaches who have achieved that milestone.
Haaland also welcomed the result and praised the team’s unity. The striker has remained central to City’s attacking success as the club attempts to defend its position in the title race.
For Liverpool, the defeat raised questions about the team’s ability to recover from setbacks against its strongest rivals. Iraola’s side had entered the match hoping to narrow the gap with City, but the dismissal and subsequent goals ended those hopes.
The contest carried unusual significance because of the financial controversy surrounding the visitors.
On September 29, the Premier League announced that an independent commission had found City responsible for serious financial rule violations over nine seasons, from 2009-10 through 2017-18.
The commission determined that City had used misleading commercial arrangements to inflate sponsorship income and reduce reported costs. It also found that the club had submitted inaccurate financial accounts and failed to cooperate fully with the league’s investigation.
According to the Premier League’s official statement, the findings included arrangements designed to conceal the true source of funding and breaches of domestic and European financial restrictions.
City rejected the commission’s decision and filed an appeal on October 2. Club officials maintain that the ruling contains substantial factual and legal errors and insist they possess evidence supporting their position.
No final sporting punishment has been announced. Possible sanctions could include financial penalties, points deductions or more severe disciplinary action, depending on the outcome of the proceedings.
The continuing uncertainty has prompted concerns among other Premier League clubs about the timing and consequences of any punishment.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who previously served as mayor of Greater Manchester, has also drawn attention to the potential economic consequences if City’s owners decide to leave the club.
His comments have generated debate about whether political figures should become involved in a dispute being handled through football’s independent regulatory procedures.
The Football Association has separately acknowledged that the findings carry serious implications for the integrity of English football. Officials are considering the wider consequences while the appeals process continues.
Former City manager Guardiola has defended the club throughout the investigation, maintaining confidence in its leadership and rejecting accusations that its successes were achieved improperly.
The disputed period included several seasons in which Liverpool finished narrowly behind City in the Premier League standings. Liverpool supporters have argued that the findings raise questions about whether those competitions were conducted on equal financial terms.
The most prominent examples include the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, when Liverpool finished one point behind City in the championship race. Liverpool also finished second to City in 2013-14.
Those results help explain the intensity of Sunday’s protests, although the commission’s findings remain subject to appeal and the league has not announced whether any previous titles will be affected.
City’s performance at Anfield demonstrated its ability to separate events on the field from the controversy surrounding the club.
Liverpool must now recover from a damaging home defeat, while City enters the next stage of the campaign with a perfect league record.
The club’s immediate football position is secure at the top of the table. Its longer-term standing, however, remains tied to an appeals process that could determine the consequences of one of the Premier League’s most significant disciplinary cases.
IMAGE: Source https://fc-zenit.ru/photo/48799/ Author Vyacheslav Evdokimov CC3