By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Premier League.
Premier League leaders Manchester City brushed Liverpool aside to win 3-0 despite a hostile crowd at Anfield and uncertainty around the club’s future.
The trip was City’s first game after an independent commission found them guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules.
An independent commission held a 42-day hearing in 2024 which led to the verdict announced last month, with City also guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation.
The commission’s report said that “a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence”.
A separate independent appeal board will hear City’s appeal. The club continues to deny any wrongdoing.
The game’s turning point occurred after an hour when Ryan Gravenberch was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Jeremy Doku.
Two minutes after the sending-off, Erling Haaland emphatically put City ahead before Doku and Rayan Cherki turned on the style as the Premier League leaders sent a message about what they are still capable of on the pitch.
“Very difficult circumstances and environment,” Enzo Maresca said. “We need to learn how to deal with the noise because the noise will be with us for all the away games.
“And (we need to) make our noise, and our noise is to win games. Like today, the good feeling at the end of the game was just our fans and our noise.”
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola lamented the red card decision.
“Sixty minutes before the red card, players were very good. From then, City was obviously better than us,” he said. “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.”
The victory gave City six wins from six and moved them three points clear of Arsenal on 18 points, providing a forceful response on the pitch after a turbulent week away from it. Liverpool are ninth after their first league loss of the season.
Meanwhile Uk Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will release details of his meetings with senior figures at Manchester City following criticism of his comments in the wake of the club being found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.
Burnham’s previous role as mayor of Greater Manchester has led to questions about his relationship with City’s Abu Dhabi ownership, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch demanding No 10 release all details of meetings between the prime minister and senior figures at the club.
“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 told 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.
“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.”
Burnham was mayor of Manchester from 2017 until earlier this year and his tenure took place during a sustained period of success for City.
As mayor, he championed investment from the Gulf as a way of growing Manchester’s economy, a strategy which was initially pursued by the city’s leaders before Burnham became the inaugural elected mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Premier League Results
Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United
Hull City 2-2 Everton
Crystal Palace 3-1 Nottingham Forest.