Manchester City Embraced the Shame—and Laughed at English Football

Manchester City revelled in their newfound status as football’s most notorious club at Anfield on Sunday night. Branded by many as the biggest cheats in English sporting history, Pep Guardiola’s side appeared to embrace the hostility, celebrating their victory while shrugging off the condemnation directed at them by the wider game.

The match was City’s first public appearance since an independent commission found them guilty of 114 financial-related charges. Yet they showed no sign of being overwhelmed by the backlash, sweeping aside Liverpool — the club most damaged by their alleged wrongdoing — with a convincing 3-0 win. For English football, still struggling to process the verdict, it was another deeply unsettling afternoon.

The result restored Manchester City’s three-point advantage over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and maintained their perfect start, with six victories from six matches. But as the club prepares to appeal and awaits a decision on any possible punishment, the significance of those achievements remains uncertain.

In the closing stages, City supporters in the away section turned their backs on the pitch and performed the Poznan, the celebratory routine that has become synonymous with the club. Their mood could be very different if, as many observers predict, City are relegated to League Two at the end of the campaign.

The spectacle highlighted the Premier League’s extraordinary state of uncertainty. A side with a flawless record, and one that produced some excellent football after half-time, was mocked by Liverpool fans singing, “going down, going down, going down.” City may eventually fall, but for now they are determined to enjoy their dominance.

To the City camp, the criticism amounted to little more than noise. For much of the football world, however, the occasion was profoundly depressing. At least for the moment, the verdict has done nothing to prevent the accused from continuing to prosper on the pitch.

For many across football, City’s exuberant celebrations jarred with the seriousness of the commission’s findings. But humility has never been a defining feature of the modern Manchester City, and there was little chance of that changing now. The Premier League remains suspended between verdict and consequence — and, until the next stage arrives, City remain untouchable.

The match was the climax of an extraordinary day on Merseyside. Hours before kick-off, supporters crowded the Anfield Road five and 10 deep, recalling the final weeks of the 2013-14 season when Liverpool fans created a deafening atmosphere in the hope of driving Brendan Rodgers’ side to the title. City won the championship that year, although that success could soon carry an unwanted asterisk.

This time, the gathering was aimed at the Manchester City team bus. Several Liverpool fans displayed banners reading, “Guilty – 114 Charges.” The images showed Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, Pep Guardiola, Enzo Fernandez and Rayan Cherki portrayed as gloomy prisoners, surrounded by champagne bottles and stacks of money.

Other banners simply displayed the word “Cheats” against a sky-blue background alongside the number 114. Red flare smoke drifted farther along the road, while police officers positioned near the Players’ Entrance appeared increasingly tense. As anticipation built, Liverpool supporters shouted: “You cheating bastards, you know what you are.”

The scene carried the atmosphere of a public reckoning, with supporters waiting for the arrival of a hated enemy. But City’s coach avoided the expected route, taking a quieter back road and reaching the stadium with barely any attention.

Two blue buses carrying the Manchester City branding passed beneath the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand. A security team jogged alongside them as they continued into an underground car park without incident.

Amid the secrecy and hostility, City began life as the pariahs of English football. That is the club’s new reality after an independent commission ruled them guilty of 114 charges brought by the Premier League. Until the appeal is resolved and the consequences are known, the rest of the sport is likely to treat them as a condemned club.

They arrived at Anfield like fugitives, and that is how they may continue to be viewed while they challenge the findings over the financial conduct that helped underpin their success between 2009 and 2018 and beyond. The feeling is unlikely to fade until the appeal concludes and a punishment is imposed. On Sunday, however, City made it clear that they intend to respond with defiance.

The Anfield crowd left them in no doubt about the extent of the anger that other clubs feel about the unfair advantage they gained for so long. ‘A generation of supporters cheated,’ one banner hanging in the Kop said, articulating the feeling that City stole away the joy of days of triumph from fans of other clubs, days they will never get back.

‘And after all, you robbed us all,’ another banner in the Kop said. At the end of their warm-up, it was that banner in front of which the Liverpool players chose to congregate and salute their supporters. Perhaps it was coincidence. Perhaps it was not. The supporters roared their approval.

‘All of your stars are fading away,’ one more sign referencing the work of Manchester band Oasis, said. In the front row of the Kop, home fans unfurled a long, thin, banner that ran for half the length of the stand. It was a row of 114 £ signs, decorated with the word ‘Cheats’.

In many ways, it was sad to see City reduced to this. This is a fine old club brought low by the actions of its owners. Once the standard bearers of the Premier League, once a team that won an unprecedented four top flight titles in succession, City are now a team to be mocked and scorned by supporters of other clubs.

The television cameras picked out City’s embattled chief executive Ferran Soriano sitting in the stands. There was no sign of the chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak. That was a surprise on a day when most expected him to make a point of showing solidarity with the club’s players and staff.

It was left – as it is always left – to the most loyal of City’s fans to stand up for the club. What has happened to City is no fault of theirs, of course, and the hard-core travelling contingent – including Noel Gallagher – showed their own defiance in the best way, travelling here to hostile territory and waving an army of inflatable bananas in the air.

Better inflated bananas than inflated commercial income. The yellow fruit was a nod to the times before the Abu Dhabi takeover when City spent time in the lower leagues and their fans did not waver in their support. The bananas were a symbol of that time. For some legacy fans, the prospect of being relegated to League Two holds no fears.

City’s players, too, were unfazed by their infamy. It was three minutes after half-time when Liverpool conjured the first real chance of the game. The ball fell to Lewis Koumas on the edge of the area and his stinging left-foot shot was beaten away by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Suddenly Liverpool poured forward. Donnarumma saved again from the excellent Ryan Gravenberch. Alexis Mac Allister whistled a shot wide.

But then City took control. Haaland, whose father Alf Inge, was also standing with the City away fans, was played through by Antoine Semenyo but clipped his right-foot shot just wide of the far post.

Many had speculated that at least one of the teams would not finish the game with all ten outfielders on the pitch and they were proved correct three minutes later when Gravenberch was sent off for a second bookable offence, an innocuous push on Jeremy Doku. Fernandez brandished an imaginary card in the referee’s direction as soon as the foul occurred and Chris Kavanagh agreed with him.

Seconds after Gravenberch had trudged off the pitch, City were ahead. Doku cut inside and unleashed a fierce shot that cannoned off Mac Allister. Haaland reacted fastest and lashed an instant drive past Alisson. The goal was scored in front of the away end. The fans there celebrated wildly. The goal must have tasted particularly sweet.

Three minutes later, City were two ahead. Doku teased Victor Munoz on the edge of the Liverpool box, jinked to his right and curled a delicious shot over Alisson. Twelve minutes from time, Cherki completed the victory with the best goal of the lot, running on to an extravagant flick by Josko Gvardiol and slipping the ball beneath Alisson for the third.

The pariahs celebrated in front of their own supporters and punched the air. The rest of football turned away in despair at what the game has become and the uncertainty that stalks it.